Even after the rise and explosion of telehandlers on the material handling business, rough terrain lift trucks and vertical mast lift trucks can be found lifting and transporting various goods and materials on jobsites all around the world. There have been numerous other traditional lift trucks which lost market share to telehandlers. This happened specially when the challenger broke onto the construction scene. Since that time, sales numbers have become stable. Vertical-mast forklifts have re-surfaced and seem to be becoming more popular once more because of their greater productivity, lower cost and alteration of some telehandler-like features.
The straight mast forklift could finish two times the job as a telehandler because of their excellent handling and maneuverability as well as their better ground speed. Fascinatingly enough, rental companies are beginning to charge higher rates on straight-mast units.
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 usually driven mostly by use, which is a factor closely followed by purchase price.
In the material handling business, the telehandler has become the darling new machine. Its popularity has enhanced 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, a lot prefer the RT lift trucks that have been performing well for decades.
The telehandler is a bit slower machine 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 task. On the upside, they get the reach if they need it. There will continuously be a place within the business for lift trucks though, as there are places that you could not access with a telehandler.
Rough terrain lift trucks are normally compact machines, smaller but more able to carry a heavier load vertically as opposed to the telehandler. Essentially, in order to use the right machine for your application, you should determine what tasks precisely you would 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 best options available are.