Even after the rise and explosion of telehandlers on the material handling industry, rough terrain lift trucks and vertical mast forklifts can be found lifting and moving various products and supplies on jobsites all over the world. There have been many other standard lift trucks that lost market share to telehandlers. This happened particularly when the competition broke onto the construction scene. Ever since that time, sales numbers have stabilized. Vertical-mast lift trucks have re-emerged and seem to be becoming more popular again because of their greater production, lower cost and alteration of certain telehandler-like features.
Straight-mast equipment will complete twice the job which a telehandler will do due to their maneuverability and ground speed. Fascinatingly enough, rental companies are beginning to charge higher rates on straight-mast units.
Rental buyers are having major influence in the rough-terrain forklift business. More than half of all vertical-mast lift trucks are currently being sold to a rental yard. These purchases are generally driven mainly by use, that is a factor closely followed by acquisition price.
The telehandler has become an extremely popular equipment in the material handling business. Their popularity has given them a better advantage in terms of rental use. Their overall expansion has been moderated by their higher price. There is some forklift users who feel that telehandlers are not nearly as useful compared to conventional rough-terrain lift trucks for loading and unloading repetitive tasks. This means that although competition among telehandler marketers has lowered their prices, many prefer the RT forklifts that have been working 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 needs a higher level of skillfulness to complete the task. On the upside, they get the reach if they need it. There would always be a place within the industry for forklifts however, because there are places which you could not access with a telehandler.
Rough terrain forklifts are generally compact machinery, smaller but more able to carry a heavier load vertically compared to the telehandler. Essentially, so as to use the best machine for your application, you will have to determine what jobs exactly you will be accomplishing, the kind of circumstances and environment you will be operating in and what your load capacity is. All these factors would help you choose what the right options available are.