Counterbalanced forklift trucks They are characterized by the presence of a counterweight in the rear of the vehicle (see Figure 5.8a), in order to balance the load that will be sustained by the forks. Usually counterbalanced forklift trucks are identified as front-loading forklift trucks, where the forks lift the tertiary package frontally, or side-loading (bi-trilateral) forklift trucks, where the forks lift perpendicularly also to the longitudinal axis of the truck itself. Counterbalanced forklift trucks are used to load and unload vehicles from the ground and from a loading door; they can move on different kinds of floor surface, operate on whatever kind of shelving and deal with also considerable slopes.