Even after the rise and explosion of telehandlers on the material handling market, rough terrain lift trucks and vertical mast lift trucks could be found lifting and moving different items and supplies on jobsites all over the world. There have been numerous other standard lift trucks which lost market share to telehandlers. This occurred particularly when the challenger broke onto the construction scene. Since that time, sales numbers have become stable. Vertical-mast lift trucks have re-emerged and seem to be becoming more popular once more due to their greater production, alteration of certain telehandler-like features and low cost.
The straight mast lift truck could complete twice the work as a telehandler due to their superior handling and maneuverability in combination with their better ground speed. Interestingly enough, rental outfits are starting to charge higher rates on straight-mast models.
In the rough-terrain lift truck business, rental purchasers have been having a greater influence. More than 50 percent of all vertical-mast lift trucks are presently being sold to a rental yard. These purchases are normally driven mostly by use, which is a factor closely followed by purchase price.
The telehandler has become a very common machinery within the material handling industry. Their popularity has given them a better advantage when it comes to rental use. 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 traditional rough-terrain forklifts for loading and unloading repetitive jobs. This means that although competition amongst telehandler marketers has lowered their prices, many choose the RT lift trucks that have been performing well for decades.
In comparison, the telehandler is ganglier, a little slower to operate and needs a higher level of skill to finish the task. On the upside, they get the reach if they need it. There would continuously be a place within the industry for forklifts though, since there are locations that you could not access with a telehandler.
Rough terrain lift trucks are normally compact machines, smaller but more able to lift a heavier cargo vertically as opposed to the telehandler. Essentially, in order to use the best machinery for your application, you should determine what jobs exactly you will be completing, the kind of setting and circumstances you would be operating in and what your load capacity is. All these factors would help you decide what the best options available are.