Even after the rise and explosion of telehandlers on the material handling industry, rough terrain lift trucks and vertical mast forklifts could be found lifting and moving different products and materials on jobsites all over the world. There have been numerous other standard lift trucks which lost market share to telehandlers. This happened particularly when the competition 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 again due to their greater production, lower cost and modification of some telehandler-like features.
Straight-mast machines would finish twice the work that a telehandler will do because of their ground speed and maneuverability. Fascinatingly enough, rental companies are beginning to charge higher rates on straight-mast units.
Within the rough-terrain forklift business, rental buyers have been having a greater influence. More than half of all vertical-mast lift trucks are presently being sold to a rental yard. These acquisitions are normally driven mainly by utilization, that is a factor closely followed by purchase price.
The telehandler has become a very common equipment in the material handling industry. Their popularity has given them a super advantage in terms of rental utilization. Their overall expansion has been moderated by their higher price. There is several forklift users who feel that telehandlers are not practically as useful as opposed to conventional rough-terrain forklifts for loading and unloading repetitive tasks. This means that even though competition amongst telehandler marketers has lowered their prices, many prefer the RT lift trucks which have been working well for decades.
In comparison, the telehandler is ganglier, a little slower to operate and needs a higher level of skill to finish the job. On the upside, they get the reach if they need it. There will continuously be a place within the industry for forklifts though, because there are locations which you will not be able to access with a telehandler.
The rough-terrain forklift is compact, small and can lift a heavier load vertically compared to the telehandler. Essentially, so as to use the best machinery for your application, you will need to determine what jobs precisely you would be accomplishing, the kind of circumstances and environment you would be operating in and what your load capacity is. All these factors would help you decide what the best alternatives available are.