Even after the rise and explosion of telehandlers on the material handling industry, rough terrain forklifts and vertical mast forklifts can be found picking up and transporting various items and materials on jobsites around the globe. There have been many other traditional lift trucks that lost market share to telehandlers. This happened particularly when the challenger broke onto the construction scene. 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, modification of some telehandler-like features and low cost.
Straight-mast machines would complete double the work that a telehandler will do due to their maneuverability and ground speed. Fascinatingly enough, rental companies are beginning to charge higher rates on straight-mast models.
Rental buyers are having significant influence in the rough-terrain lift truck business. More than half of all vertical-mast forklifts are presently being sold to a rental yard. These purchases are generally driven mostly by use, 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 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 nearly as helpful as opposed to traditional rough-terrain lift trucks for loading and unloading repetitive jobs. This means that although competition amongst telehandler marketers has lowered their prices, a lot prefer the RT forklifts which have been performing well for decades.
The telehandler is a little slower machine in comparison to a rough terrain forklift model. They are also ganglier to operate and requires a higher level of skill to complete the task. On the upside, they get the reach if they need it. There will continuously be a place within the industry for forklifts however, since there are locations which you can not access with a telehandler.
The rough-terrain forklift is small, compact and could carry a heavier cargo vertically compared to the telehandler. Basically, in order to use the right machinery for your application, you should determine what jobs exactly you would be completing, the type of environment and conditions you would be operating in and what your load capacity is. These factors would help you choose what the best alternatives available are.