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 goods and materials on jobsites all around the globe. There have been many other standard lift trucks which lost market share to telehandlers. This happened specially when the challenger broke onto the construction scene. Ever 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 production, alteration of some telehandler-like features and low cost.
Straight-mast machinery would finish twice the work that a telehandler will do due to their ground speed and maneuverability. Interestingly enough, rental outfits are beginning to charge higher rates on straight-mast models.
In the rough-terrain lift truck industry, rental buyers have been having a greater influence. Over 50 percent of all vertical-mast forklifts are now being sold to a rental yard. These acquisitions are generally driven mostly by utilization, which is a factor closely followed by purchase price.
In the material handling industry, the telehandler has become the darling new equipment. Its popularity has enhanced its advantage in the rental market as well. Their overall expansion has been moderated by their higher price. There is several forklift users who feel that telehandlers are not nearly as productive as opposed to conventional rough-terrain lift trucks for loading and unloading repetitive jobs. This means that although competition among telehandler marketers has lowered their prices, a lot prefer the RT lift trucks which have been performing well for decades.
In comparison, the telehandler is a little slower, ganglier to operate and requires a higher level of skill to complete the job. On the upside, they get the reach if they require it. There would always be a place in the industry for lift trucks however, because there are places that you could not access with a telehandler.
Rough terrain forklifts are normally compact machinery, smaller but more able to carry a heavier load vertically compared to the telehandler. Essentially, so as to use the right machine for your application, you should determine what jobs exactly you would be completing, the type of conditions and environment you will be operating in and what your load capacity is. These factors will help you choose what the right options available are.