A lot of people will mistake hand trucks for trolleys, as to the layman – they look pretty much the same. However, for warehouse employees, they are the heroes of their long and exhausting days. And how wouldn’t they be – hand trucks and trolleys stroll through the warehouse with ease, making the jobs of everyone that much easier. You may be asking yourself what are the differences between the two – well most of it has to do with the type of environment they operate in and the amount of weight they can transport. However, without further ado, let’s take a look at their specifics.
Types
Both trolleys and hand trucks aren’t meant to be used for the same things, as they have slightly different features that make them better for certain loads. Despite being used for the same purpose, hand trucks and trolleys have different subtypes. Trolleys greatly outnumber hand trucks in this case as there are steel, plastic, platform, hand, tool trolleys, and many more. On the other hand, hand trucks are much more simple – they can have either a modular or a welded frame. A welded frame has more strength but if it somehow gets bent it can be very hard and expensive to get it fixed, hence why some storage houses use hand trucks with modular frames.
Use
Although carrying heavy loads is their core purpose, what separates hand trucks and trolleys is the different types meant for specific uses. A perfect example of this are medical trolleys, which have to provide an easy way of cleaning and sterilization and because of that, they are specially made from stainless steel. Hand trucks are meant to carry loads that are not as easy to break, because of the backward leaning position they are in during transport. They can be quite unwieldy but they can quickly transport whatever you need as they only have two wheels. Trolleys can be used to transport large amounts of food in a restaurant while hand trucks are meant to do the same thing in warehouses dealing with bigger items such as crates.
Advantages
Hand trucks and trolleys are quite obviously meant to lessen straining and prevent worker injuries while increasing productivity. Hand trucks are a lot sturdier and durable than trolleys but they lack some of their advantages and versatility, like having corner bumpers and combining swivel and fixed castors. However, although they are heavier, they’re still cheaper than trolleys.