Yes, bar joists can be designed for these loads, but the chances are very good that they were not. Bar joists are generally the cheapest roof framing for an industrial building. Once you start designing them for hoists and trolleys-and their related impact loads- their economy diminishes.
Often new owners come in, or tenants come in to a spec industrial building, and assume that the structure can take anything that they can put to it. This is often done by in-house personnel without analyzing what is there. The results can be frightening.
Generally, we design industrial structures with the lightest, most efficient roof structure we can. We then provide sub-framing between the columns, just under the roof framing, to accommodate future equipment and hanging loads. The columns, of course, are overdesigned to accommodate these process/equipment loads. By doing this, we give an extra measure of safety against do-it-yourself industrial loads, and also make it easier for future engineered projects: analysis is simpler, and playing around with the joists or adding/reinforcing columns is generally not required.
Yes, it adds to the cost, but owners of built-to-suit projects almost always accept this sub-framing as an extra; they see its long-term value when we explain the flexibility they gain. We have even had this system accepted by big-box industrial spec developers, who do not want a tenant bringing their building's roof down.