Even after the rise and explosion of telehandlers on the material handling market, rough terrain forklifts and vertical mast lift trucks can be found lifting and moving different items and materials on jobsites all over the globe. There have been numerous other traditional lift trucks that lost market share to telehandlers. This occurred particularly when the competition broke onto the construction scene. Since that time, sales numbers have become stable. Vertical-mast lift trucks have re-surfaced and seem to be becoming more popular again because of their greater productivity, alteration of certain telehandler-like features and low cost.
The straight mast lift truck could complete double the work as a telehandler due to their excellent handling and maneuverability in combination with their better ground speed. Interestingly enough, rental companies are starting to charge higher rates on straight-mast models.
Within the rough-terrain lift truck industry, rental purchasers have been having a greater influence. Over 50 percent of all vertical-mast forklifts are currently being sold to a rental yard. These acquisitions are generally driven mainly by utilization, that is a factor closely followed by acquisition price.
The telehandler has become a very popular machine within the material handling business. Their popularity has given them a better advantage in terms of rental utilization. Their overall expansion has been moderated by their higher price. There is some lift truck users who feel that telehandlers are not nearly as helpful as opposed to conventional rough-terrain forklifts for unloading and loading repetitive jobs. This means that although competition amongst telehandler marketers has lowered their prices, many choose the RT lift trucks which have been working well for decades.
In comparison, the telehandler is a little slower, ganglier to operate and needs a higher level of skillfulness to finish the job. On the upside, they get the reach if they need it. There will continuously be a place within the business for lift trucks though, as there are locations which you could not access with a telehandler.
Rough terrain forklifts are generally compact machinery, smaller but more able to lift a heavier cargo vertically compared to the telehandler. Essentially, so as to utilize the best machine for your application, you would need to determine what jobs precisely you would be accomplishing, the kind of environment and circumstances you would be operating in and what your load capacity is. These factors would help you decide what the right alternatives available are.