Even after the rise and explosion of telehandlers on the material handling business, rough terrain lift trucks and vertical mast forklifts can be found picking up and transporting various goods and materials on jobsites all over the world. There have been numerous other conventional lift trucks which lost market share to telehandlers. This occurred particularly when the challenger broke onto the construction scene. Ever since that time, sales numbers have stabilized. Vertical-mast lift trucks have re-surfaced and seem to be becoming more popular once more thanks to their greater productivity, lower cost and modification of certain telehandler-like features.
Straight-mast machinery will finish two times the job which a telehandler would do because of their ground speed and maneuverability. Fascinatingly enough, rental outfits are starting to charge higher rates on straight-mast units.
Rental buyers are having significant influence within the rough-terrain forklift industry. Over half of all vertical-mast forklifts are now being sold to a rental yard. These acquisitions are usually driven mostly by utilization, which is a factor closely followed by acquisition price.
Within the material handling business, the telehandler has become the darling new machine. Its popularity has improved its advantage in the rental market too. Their overall expansion has been moderated by their higher price. There is some forklift users who feel that telehandlers are not practically as productive as opposed to conventional rough-terrain lift trucks for unloading and loading repetitive tasks. This means that although competition among telehandler marketers has lowered their prices, many prefer the RT lift trucks that 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 finish the task. On the upside, they get the reach if they require it. There will always be a place within the industry for forklifts though, since there are places which you will not be able to access with a telehandler.
The rough-terrain forklift is small, compact and could lift a heavier cargo vertically compared to the telehandler. Essentially, in order to use the best equipment for your application, you must determine what jobs precisely you would be completing, the kind of circumstances and setting you will be operating in and what your load capacity is. These factors would help you decide what the best options available are.