The name refers to the ability of the fork carriage to ‘reach’ out beyond the stabilising legs and therefore ‘reach’ into racking. The combination of this reach capability and the stabilising legs means reach trucks can lift to great heights (in excess of 10 metres) while still operating in very tight working environments. While excellent for use indoors, reach trucks are not ideally suited to work outside. Their low under-carriage clearance can cause problems on uneven working surfaces.