Forklift Aisle Width Calculator (VDI 2198)

VDI 2198 defines the right-angle stacking aisle (Ast) as the narrowest straight aisle in which the truck can turn 90 degrees with the load and place it. Toyota Material Handling Europe publishes the formula per truck type; a is the safety clearance (200 mm in VDI 2198):

• Ast = Wa + √((l6 − x)² + (b12/2)²) + a — straddle-leg stackers and reach trucks. Counterbalanced stackers, which have no straddle legs, turn like counterbalance trucks and use the next formula. Pallet trucks do not stack and are not listed here.
• Ast = Wa + √((l6 + x)² + (b12/2)²) + a — 3-wheel counterbalance trucks, and 4-wheel trucks when the load is wider than twice the internal turning radius b13.
• Ast = Wa + x + l6 + a — 4-wheel counterbalance trucks when the load width is at most twice b13.

A model is only calculated when these formulas, fed with its published turning radius and load distance, reproduce every aisle width its manufacturer publishes to within 15 mm. Where the manufacturer does not publish b13, a 4-wheel truck is only calculated for load widths its published figures prove. Everything else shows the published figures and nothing computed.

Formula source: Toyota Material Handling Europe, aisle width guide.

Narrowest published stacking aisle by capacity (1000 x 1200 crossways)

Manufacturer figures from VDI 2198 row 4.34.1, not computed. Each links to the model and its datasheet.

Narrowest published stacking aisle by capacity (800 x 1200 lengthwise)

Manufacturer figures from the VDI 2198 section 4.34 line for an 800 x 1200 pallet lengthwise (numbered 4.34.2 on most datasheets, 4.34.4 on some), not computed. Each links to the model and its datasheet.