Even after the rise and explosion of telehandlers on the material handling business, rough terrain lift trucks and vertical mast forklifts can be found picking up and transporting different goods and materials on jobsites around the world. There have been many other standard lift trucks which lost market share to telehandlers. This happened particularly when the competition broke onto the construction scene. Ever since that time, sales numbers have become stable. Vertical-mast forklifts have re-emerged and seem to be becoming more popular again due to their greater productivity, lower cost and modification of some telehandler-like features.
Straight-mast equipment would finish two times the work which a telehandler would do due to their ground speed and maneuverability. Fascinatingly enough, rental companies are beginning to charge higher rates on straight-mast models.
In the rough-terrain lift truck business, rental buyers have been having a greater influence. More than 50 percent of all vertical-mast lift trucks are now being sold to a rental yard. These purchases are normally driven mostly by utilization, that is a factor closely followed by purchase price.
Within the material handling business, the telehandler has become the darling new machinery. Its popularity has improved its benefit in the rental market too. Their overall expansion has been moderated by their higher price. There is some lift truck users who feel that telehandlers are not practically as helpful as opposed to traditional rough-terrain lift trucks for unloading and loading repetitive jobs. This means that although competition amongst telehandler marketers has lowered their prices, many prefer the RT lift trucks that have been performing well for decades.
The telehandler is a little slower machinery in comparison to a rough terrain forklift unit. They are also ganglier to use and requires a higher level of skill to finish the job. On the upside, they get the reach if they require it. There would always be a place within the business for lift trucks though, because there are places which you will not be able to access with a telehandler.
Rough terrain forklifts are usually compact equipment, smaller but more able to lift a heavier load vertically as opposed to the telehandler. Essentially, in order to utilize the right equipment for your application, you would have to determine what tasks precisely you would be accomplishing, the type of setting and circumstances you would be operating in and what your load capacity is. All these factors will help you decide what the right options available are.