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 moving different products and materials on jobsites all over the globe. There have been many other conventional lift trucks that lost market share to telehandlers. This happened particularly when the challenger broke onto the construction scene. Ever since that time, sales numbers have stabilized. Vertical-mast forklifts have re-surfaced and seem to be becoming more popular again because of their greater productivity, alteration of some telehandler-like features and low cost.
The straight mast forklift can complete twice the work as a telehandler because of their excellent handling and maneuverability in addition to their better ground speed. Interestingly enough, rental companies are starting to charge higher rates on straight-mast models.
In the rough-terrain forklift business, rental buyers have been having a greater influence. More than half of all vertical-mast forklifts are presently being sold to a rental yard. These acquisitions are usually driven mostly by use, that is a factor closely followed by acquisition price.
In the material handling industry, 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 lift truck users who feel that telehandlers are not practically as helpful compared to conventional rough-terrain forklifts for loading and unloading 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.
In comparison, the telehandler is ganglier, a little slower to operate and needs a higher level of skill to complete the job. On the upside, they get the reach if they need it. There will continuously be a place in the business for lift trucks however, since there are places which you would not be able to access with a telehandler.
Rough terrain lift trucks are generally compact machines, smaller but more able to carry a heavier load vertically as opposed to the telehandler. Essentially, in order to utilize the best machine for your application, you should determine what jobs 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 would help you choose what the best options available are.