If you move pallets, steel, timber, bags, containers, or bricks for a living, you already know this: not all forklift trucks are built for the same job. Some feel at home on smooth warehouse floors. Others only wake up once they hit mud, gravel, or a rough construction site.
This post walks through the main types of forklift trucks you’ll see in real industrial fleets and how to match them to your work. We’ll also look at how Qingdao Hezhong Machinery Manufacturing Co., Ltd. fits into that picture with its diesel, electric, LPG, and rough terrain models.
Why “Type” Matters So Much When You Choose a Forklift
It’s Not Just About Capacity on the Nameplate
A 3-ton forklift is not just “a 3-ton forklift.” The same rated capacity can behave very differently depending on:
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Power source (diesel, electric, LPG)
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Wheelbase and counterweight
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Tire type and ground clearance
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Mast height and visibility
Put a compact electric counterbalance truck in a muddy yard and it’ll struggle. Put a big rough terrain forklift in a narrow indoor aisle and you’ll chew up space and fuel for no good reason. The type of forklift truck you pick affects:
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How fast trucks are loaded and unloaded
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How tired your operators feel after a shift
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How much you spend on fuel, batteries, and maintenance
A Day in the Life: One Fleet, Two Environments
Picture a medium-sized building materials dealer:
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Indoors: pallet racking, 3-level high, mostly cement and tiles
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Outdoors: open yard, uneven ground, rain puddles half the year
They tried to do everything with a single diesel counterbalance forklift. It could lift the weight fine, but:
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Indoors it was noisy and needed extra ventilation.
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Outdoors it was overbooked; whenever it broke down, everything stopped.
Once they added an electric forklift for indoor racking and kept the diesel outside, truck turnaround time dropped, and operators stopped “fighting” the machine all day. Same people, same building, just a smarter mix of forklift types.
Core Types of Forklift Trucks You’ll Actually Use
On the Hezhong Machinery site, the forklift lineup falls into four key groups: LPG forklifts, electric forklifts, diesel forklifts, and rough terrain forklifts, all in a counterbalance layout. Let’s translate that into real-world use.
Diesel Counterbalance Forklift Trucks
Diesel forklifts are the classic workhorse for heavy, outdoor jobs.
Where they shine:
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Steel yards and fabrication shops
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Ports and logistics yards
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Brick, block, and precast plants
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Construction sites
Hezhong’s CPCD series (for example 1.5-ton, 3.5-ton, 6-ton, 7-ton diesel forklifts) is built for this kind of environment: robust frames, powerful engines, and pneumatic tires designed to cope with irregular surfaces.
Typical strengths:
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High torque at low speed for heavy pallets
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Long, continuous shifts with quick refueling
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Well-known driving feel for experienced operators
If most of your work happens outside and your loads are dense and heavy, diesel counterbalance forklift trucks are usually the starting point for a fleet.
Electric Forklift Trucks
Electric forklifts used to be seen as “light duty” machines. That’s not really the case anymore. With better motors and modern battery packs, they handle serious work, especially indoors. Hezhong offers electric counterbalance forklifts under the same product family, so the layout feels familiar to operators.
Where they make sense:
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Warehouses and distribution centers
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Cold storage and food industries
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Indoor production lines
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Anywhere air quality and noise matter
What people like about them:
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No exhaust fumes inside enclosed buildings
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Smoother, quieter operation
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Good low-speed control in tight aisles
If you’re loading containers under a roof or working around staff on foot, an electric forklift truck often pays for itself in fewer complaints, simpler ventilation, and more consistent low-speed control.
LPG Forklift Trucks
LPG forklifts sit right between diesel and electric in many fleets. On Hezhong’s product menu, LPG forklift trucks show up as part of the main forklift truck category, alongside diesel, electric, and rough terrain.
They’re a good option when you:
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Need one truck to work both inside and outside
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Want less exhaust smell than diesel
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Prefer fast “refuel and go” behavior instead of battery charging
For users who can’t fully commit to battery fleets yet, LPG forklift trucks give a flexible middle road.
Rough Terrain Forklift Trucks
Rough terrain forklifts are basically forklifts crossed with off-road equipment. Hezhong’s 4-ton rough terrain model, such as the Y40Q, is designed for uneven ground, construction jobs, and other harsh sites where a warehouse truck just won’t survive.
Typical features:
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Taller ground clearance
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Chunky off-road tires
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Reinforced chassis and mast
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Strong drive axles for slopes and soft soil
Think of rough terrain forklift trucks for:
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Construction sites that change every week
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Outdoor yards with gravel, mud, or holes
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Loading trucks where there’s barely any pavement
They’re not ideal for tight indoor racking, but when your “floor” is basically a jobsite, they’re worth every cent.
How to Decide Which Forklift Type You Actually Need
Start With Load and Height
Ask yourself, honestly:
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What is your average pallet weight? Not just the maximum.
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How often do you really need full height?
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Do you sometimes carry long or awkward loads (pipes, profiles, panels)?
A 1.5-ton diesel forklift from Hezhong, for example, is ideal for lighter warehouse and workshop tasks. Heavier series like CPC(D)-35 or CPCD-50 step up for bricks, steel, or big bags.
Map Out the Ground You’re Driving On
Draw a simple sketch of your site:
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Indoor area: floor type, aisle width, door height
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Outdoor area: paved, partial, or fully unpaved?
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Any ramps, docks, or bumps?
Then align:
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Mostly smooth floor, narrow aisles → electric forklift trucks
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Mixed concrete and yard work → diesel or LPG counterbalance
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Loose soil, slopes, gravel → rough terrain forklift trucks
Think in Fleets, Not Single Machines
Many companies try to make one forklift do everything. It rarely works well. A more realistic approach is:
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A couple of diesel or LPG forklifts outside for heavier work
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One or more electric forklifts inside for loading, picking, and stacking
Hezhong’s product range makes that mix easier, because diesel, electric, and LPG forklifts share a consistent design language, so training time is shorter and spare parts stocking is simpler.
Qingdao Hezhong Machinery Manufacturing Co., Ltd.: Who’s Behind These Forklifts?
Before you buy a forklift, it’s worth asking: who actually built this thing?
Qingdao Hezhong Machinery Manufacturing Co., Ltd. is one of the established machinery manufacturers in China, focusing on wheel loaders and forklifts. The group traces its international cooperation history back to 2007 and has grown into a company covering more than 100,000 square meters around Jiaodong Bay, with multiple factories under the same umbrella.
A few points that stand out for overseas buyers:
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The company specializes in wheel loaders, forklift trucks, and attachments, not every type of machine under the sun.
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Production, sales, and export are handled directly from the factory, which makes technical communication and customization smoother.
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The brand regularly ships diesel, electric, LPG, and rough terrain forklift trucks to customers in different countries and shares real case studies and news updates about these machines in daily use.
For many new importers, the first step is usually a small trial order—maybe a 3-ton diesel forklift or a 4-ton rough terrain unit. Once the machines run well for a few months, the conversation tends to shift from “Can this work?” to “What should we add next?”
Conclusion
At first glance, different types of forklift trucks can feel like a lot to sort through. But once you break it down, the logic is pretty simple:
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Diesel forklifts for heavy outdoor work and long days
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Electric forklifts for clean, quiet indoor handling
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LPG forklifts when you need one truck to move between both worlds
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Rough terrain forklifts when your “floor” is more like a construction site than a warehouse
Get that mix right, and your operators stop fighting the machines. Truck loading becomes predictable. And instead of squeezing one forklift into jobs it was never meant to do, you let each type do what it does best.
Working with a focused manufacturer like Qingdao Hezhong Machinery Manufacturing Co., Ltd. gives you that flexibility in one place: diesel, electric, LPG, and rough terrain forklifts built around real industrial use, not just spec sheet numbers.
FAQs: Practical Questions About Forklift Types
We’re not a huge company. Do we really need different types of forklift trucks?
Not always, but quite often one single truck ends up being a bottleneck. If you work only indoors on smooth floors, one electric forklift might cover everything. But if you have a warehouse plus an outdoor yard, a small mix—say one electric inside and one diesel or LPG outside—usually works better than pushing a single machine to do both jobs badly.
How do I know if my site needs a rough terrain forklift instead of a normal diesel one?
Walk your yard after a heavy rain. If you see ruts, soft ground, or slopes that make a regular counterbalance forklift spin its wheels or scrape its bottom, that’s a sign you’re moving into rough terrain forklift territory. Higher ground clearance, stronger axles, and off-road tires make a big difference when the surface is far from perfect.
Are electric forklift trucks really strong enough for “serious” industrial work?
Yes, as long as you pick the right capacity and battery setup. Modern electric forklift trucks have plenty of torque at low speed. The key questions are: how many hours per day do you run them, and do you have a realistic charging plan? If your shifts are planned and you can charge during breaks or at night, electric units handle most warehouse and factory tasks just fine.
We’re thinking about LPG forklifts. What’s the real advantage over diesel?
In many fleets, LPG forklifts are chosen because they run cleaner indoors than diesel and still refuel quickly. You swap or refill the tank and get back to work. If your truck spends half its time in a warehouse and half outside on the yard, LPG can save you from buying and maintaining two different types of forklift trucks.
What should I tell Qingdao Hezhong Machinery when I ask for a recommendation?
Keep it simple and honest. Share:
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Your typical and maximum load weight
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Where the forklift will spend most of its time (indoors, outdoors, or both)
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What the ground looks like
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How many hours per day it will run
With that information, the team can usually suggest one or two forklift types—for example, a 3-ton electric truck for the warehouse plus a 4-ton diesel or rough terrain model for the yard—so you’re not guessing based only on a catalog photo.
