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 picking up and moving various items and supplies on jobsites around the world. There have been many other standard lift trucks which lost market share to telehandlers. This happened especially when the challenger broke onto the construction scene. Ever since that time, sales numbers have become stable. Vertical-mast lift trucks have re-emerged and seem to be becoming more popular again thanks to their greater efficiency, lower cost and alteration of certain telehandler-like features.
The straight mast lift truck can complete twice the work as a telehandler because of their superior 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 forklift industry, rental purchasers have been having a greater influence. Over 50 percent of all vertical-mast forklifts are now being sold to a rental yard. These purchases are normally driven mainly by utilization, which is a factor closely followed by purchase price.
Within the material handling industry, the telehandler has become the darling new machinery. Its popularity has enhanced its benefit in the rental market too. Their overall expansion has been moderated by their higher price. There is several lift truck users who feel that telehandlers are not nearly as productive as opposed to conventional rough-terrain lift trucks for unloading and loading repetitive tasks. This means that even though competition amongst telehandler marketers has lowered their prices, a lot prefer the RT forklifts which have been working well for decades.
The telehandler is a little slower equipment in comparison to a rough terrain lift truck model. They are also ganglier to operate and needs a higher level of skill to complete the job. On the upside, they get the reach if they require it. There would always be a place within the industry for lift trucks though, since there are places which you will not be able to access with a telehandler.
Rough terrain forklifts are generally compact machinery, smaller but more able to carry a heavier load vertically compared to the telehandler. Basically, in order to use the best machinery for your application, you would have to determine what jobs exactly you will be completing, the type of circumstances and setting you will be operating in and what your load capacity is. All these factors will help you decide what the best options available are.