Even after the rise and explosion of telehandlers on the material handling business, rough terrain forklifts and vertical mast lift trucks can be found picking up and transporting various products and supplies on jobsites around the world. There have been numerous other conventional lift trucks which lost market share to telehandlers. This occurred specially when the challenger broke onto the construction scene. Since that time, sales numbers have stabilized. Vertical-mast lift trucks have re-emerged and seem to be becoming more popular again due to their greater productivity, modification of certain telehandler-like features and low cost.
The straight mast forklift could complete twice the work 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 models.
Rental buyers are having significant influence in the rough-terrain lift truck industry. More than half of all vertical-mast forklifts are presently being sold to a rental yard. These purchases are usually driven mainly by utilization, which is a factor closely followed by acquisition price.
The telehandler has become an extremely popular equipment within the material handling industry. Their popularity has given them a super 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 practically as useful compared to traditional rough-terrain lift trucks for loading and unloading repetitive tasks. This means that even if competition amongst telehandler marketers has lowered their prices, many choose the RT lift trucks which have been performing well for decades.
The telehandler is a little slower equipment in comparison to a rough terrain forklift model. They are also ganglier to utilize and needs a higher level of skill to complete the task. On the upside, they get the reach if they require 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.
The rough-terrain forklift is compact, small and can lift a heavier load vertically as opposed to the telehandler. Essentially, in order to use the best equipment for your application, you must determine what jobs precisely you will be completing, the kind of conditions and environment you would be operating in and what your load capacity is. All these factors will help you choose what the best alternatives available are.