Even after the rise and explosion of telehandlers on the material handling industry, rough terrain forklifts and vertical mast forklifts can be found picking up and transporting various items and supplies on jobsites around the world. There have been many other standard lift trucks which lost market share to telehandlers. This happened especially when the challenger broke onto the construction scene. Ever since that time, sales numbers have become stable. Vertical-mast lift trucks have re-emerged and seem to be becoming more popular again because of their greater production, lower cost and modification of some telehandler-like features.
The straight mast lift truck can finish two times the job as a telehandler due to their superior handling and maneuverability in addition to their better ground speed. Fascinatingly enough, rental outfits are beginning to charge higher rates on straight-mast units.
Rental buyers are having significant influence in the rough-terrain forklift business. Over half of all vertical-mast lift trucks are currently being sold to a rental yard. These purchases are generally driven mostly by use, 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 advantage in the rental market as well. Their overall expansion has been moderated by their higher price. There is some forklift users who feel that telehandlers are not nearly as useful as opposed to traditional rough-terrain forklifts for unloading and loading repetitive jobs. This means that although competition among telehandler marketers has lowered their prices, many prefer the RT lift trucks that have been working well for decades.
The telehandler is a bit slower machine in comparison to a rough terrain lift truck unit. They are also ganglier to use and requires a higher level of skillfulness to complete the task. On the upside, they get the reach if they require it. There would always be a place within the business for lift trucks however, because there are locations that you could not access with a telehandler.
The rough-terrain lift truck is compact, small and can lift a heavier cargo vertically as opposed to the telehandler. Basically, so as to utilize the right machine for your application, you should determine what tasks precisely you would be accomplishing, the type of environment and circumstances you will be operating in and what your load capacity is. All these factors will help you decide what the right alternatives available are.