Even after the rise and explosion of telehandlers on the material handling business, rough terrain forklifts and vertical mast forklifts could be found picking up and transporting various items and materials on jobsites all over the world. There have been numerous other conventional lift trucks that lost market share to telehandlers. This happened particularly when the challenger broke onto the construction scene. Since that time, sales numbers have become stable. Vertical-mast forklifts have re-surfaced and seem to be becoming more popular once more because of their greater productivity, alteration of some telehandler-like features and low cost.
Straight-mast machinery would finish double the job that a telehandler will do due to their ground speed and maneuverability. Interestingly enough, rental outfits are starting to charge higher rates on straight-mast units.
Rental purchasers are having major influence within the rough-terrain lift truck industry. Over 50 percent of all vertical-mast forklifts are presently being sold to a rental yard. These purchases are generally driven mostly by use, which is a factor closely followed by acquisition price.
In the material handling business, the telehandler has become the darling new machinery. Its popularity has improved its advantage in the rental market too. Their overall expansion has been moderated by their higher price. There is several forklift users who feel that telehandlers are not nearly as helpful compared to traditional rough-terrain forklifts for loading and unloading repetitive tasks. This means that even though competition among telehandler marketers has lowered their prices, many prefer the RT lift trucks which have been performing well for decades.
The telehandler is a bit slower equipment in comparison to a rough terrain lift truck model. They are also ganglier to utilize and needs a higher level of skill to finish the job. On the upside, they get the reach if they need it. There will continuously be a place in the business for lift trucks though, as there are places that you would 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, so as to utilize the right machinery for your application, you must determine what tasks exactly you will be accomplishing, the type of circumstances and environment you would be operating in and what your load capacity is. All these factors will help you decide what the right options available are.