Reaching for the optimum cube

Prime warehouse space comes at a premium. According to Statista, the UK average rent for big-box warehouses in the third quarter of 2025 was £12.4 per square foot. And estate agents, Savills, predicts rental growth of 2.3% to 3.5% per annum until 2029.

With significant – and rising – costs associated with renting a well-located warehouse, businesses are under pressure to maximise the performance of their warehouse operations and in particular, make the most of their storage cube.

Smart thinking

Smart thinking on how to create higher density storage can offer the extra capacity to facilitate business growth, free-up space for other processes or may even remove the need for an expensive warehouse move. 

Taking the right approach brings big rewards, but much depends upon choosing the most appropriate technology for the application – in the first instance, this typically comes down to deciding on aisle width, whether that’s wide-aisle, narrow aisle, or very narrow aisle (VNA). The narrower the aisles and the taller the pallet racking, the greater the storage density. 

With double-deep, push-back, pallet-live or mobile racking even greater density can be achieved. Toyota’s Radioshuttle and racking systems often offer the highest storage density.  

However, there is a trade-off between storage density and speed of access for order picking. For many operating in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry, flexibility and speed are paramount and it’s here that the reach truck, with its ability to perform flexibly across tasks as well as in tall and narrow aisles, has tremendous advantages – securing its position as the popular choice for businesses with high throughput and a need for flexibility and fast access for order picking.

By moving from traditional counterbalance forklift trucks operating in wide-aisles of around 4 – 4.5 metres, to compact reach trucks capable of performing efficiently within narrow-aisles of under 3 metres, space savings of up to 1100 mm per aisle can be achieved – increasing pallet storage capacity within the same floor area by over 20%.

Another dimension

Lift height is the other critical consideration. A 2000kg capacity counterbalance truck, for example, is generally only able to stack loads up to 6.5 – 7 m, whereas a 1600kg capacity entry-level reach truck is able to lift loads up to 8.5 m, with top of the range models, such as Toyota’s BT Reflex RRE180–250H, being capable of reaching heights of up to 13 m. Provided eave heights permit, a potential doubling of the height of the storage cube can be realised using high performance reach trucks. Combine this with the space saved from having narrow-aisles and overall storage density can be improved by as much as 120-140% using reach trucks over counterbalance forklifts.

Utilising the available headroom of a building makes perfect sense, however, it’s important to consider the operational performance and capabilities of available reach truck models.  As an example, lift and lowering speeds can vary significantly between makes and models. Most Toyota reach trucks have a standard unladen lift speed of 0.68m/s although an optional upgrade on the BT Reflex RRE140H–160H offers impressive lift speeds of 0.92m/s, which can make a big difference on a busy shift or at peak. 

Also, working at height introduces further important factors, such as mast sway, which can be exacerbated by anything less than a perfectly flat floor. Going a long way to resolving this issue, Toyota Material Handling has developed market-leading dampening systems for smooth lifting and lowering of loads and optimised reach control to prevent mast sway. And for safer load handling on cornering, optimised speed reduction automatically ensures stability in transit.

Ergonomics matter

Ergonomics play a significant role in making operators both more comfortable and productive. This is an area where Toyota Material Handling has dedicated considerable resources, perfecting easy-on-the-wrist mini-lever hydraulic controls, all-round visibility with the BT Totalview concept, almost infinitely adjustable seats – even adjustable floor plate height – and clear load and truck information on an interactive touch display. Safety and productivity go hand-in-hand with sound ergonomics.

Positioning and retrieving loads within high racking installations has been made considerably easier for operators with the introduction of several Toyota options, such as lift height pre-selection, auto-tilt and/or side shift centring, along with fork position laser guidance and fork camera options. With the Toyota BT Reflex E series, the cabin tilts to give the operator an improved view of the load when positioning or removing a pallet from an elevated position, enhancing safety and reducing neck strain by 20% – in fact, driver surveys suggest a perceived 50% reduction in neck strain.

The space saving characteristics of the reach truck, combined with its inherent flexibility, make it an attractive option for cold store applications, where temperatures of -25C to -30C are expensive to maintain. Keeping the operator comfortable in such low temperatures is important for both safety as well as operational and performance reasons. Toyota Material Handling’s BT Reflex R/E/N series reach trucks come fully equipped for cold store environments, with heated cabs and dash mounted heater control – 17 heating vents for window de-mist and warmth ensure visibility and comfort is always maintained for operators working in these harsher environments. Full in-cab ergonomic features, such as adjustable seats, controls and floor also still come as standard.

Boost performance

Warehouses are increasingly expensive to rent and run, so making the most of available space is critically important for any organisation keen to pursue a more sustainable approach to its storage and fulfilment functions. Reach trucks offer a highly productive, flexible solution for boosting space utilisation, allowing fast throughput and easy access for order picking activities. Their ability to access pallet locations up to 13m and yet be perfectly capable of undertaking block stacking, transport runs or feeding VNA systems makes them a versatile and sustainable option for boosting warehouse performance.  

For more information on Toyota Material Handling UK’s range of space-saving reach trucks, please click here.