Even after the rise and explosion of telehandlers on the material handling market, rough terrain forklifts and vertical mast lift trucks could be found picking up and transporting various products and materials on jobsites around the world. There have been numerous other traditional lift trucks which lost market share to telehandlers. This occurred specially when the competition broke onto the construction scene. Since that time, sales numbers have stabilized. Vertical-mast lift trucks have re-surfaced and seem to be becoming more popular again thanks to their greater production, alteration of some telehandler-like features and low cost.
Straight-mast machines will complete double the work which 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 buyers are having significant influence within the rough-terrain lift truck business. Over 50 percent of all vertical-mast lift trucks are presently being sold to a rental yard. These purchases are generally driven mainly by utilization, that is a factor closely followed by purchase price.
The telehandler has become a very common machine in the material handling industry. Their popularity has given them a super advantage when it comes to rental use. Their overall expansion has been moderated by their higher price. There is some lift truck users who feel that telehandlers are not practically as helpful as opposed to traditional rough-terrain forklifts for loading and unloading repetitive jobs. This means that although competition among telehandler marketers has lowered their prices, many choose the RT lift trucks which have been working well for decades.
The telehandler is a bit slower equipment in comparison to a rough terrain lift truck unit. They are also ganglier to operate and requires a higher level of skill to finish the job. On the upside, they get the reach if they require it. There will always be a place within the industry for forklifts however, as there are places which you could not access with a telehandler.
The rough-terrain lift truck is small, compact and could carry a heavier cargo vertically compared to the telehandler. Basically, in order to use the right machine for your application, you must determine what tasks precisely you will be completing, the type of environment and conditions you will be operating in and what your load capacity is. All these factors will help you decide what the right options available are.