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 transporting various products and supplies on jobsites all around the globe. There have been many other conventional lift trucks which lost market share to telehandlers. This happened especially when the challenger broke onto the construction scene. Since that time, sales numbers have become stable. Vertical-mast lift trucks have re-surfaced and seem to be becoming more popular again because of their greater productivity, alteration of certain telehandler-like features and low cost.
The straight mast forklift can complete twice the work as a telehandler due to their superior handling and maneuverability as well as their better ground speed. Interestingly enough, rental companies are starting to charge higher rates on straight-mast models.
Rental purchasers are having significant influence in the rough-terrain forklift industry. More than half of all vertical-mast forklifts are now being sold to a rental yard. These acquisitions are generally driven mainly by utilization, which is a factor closely followed by purchase price.
Within the material handling business, the telehandler has become the darling new equipment. Its popularity has improved its advantage 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 forklifts for loading and unloading repetitive tasks. This means that even though competition among telehandler marketers has lowered their prices, a lot choose the RT forklifts that have been performing well for decades.
The telehandler is a little slower equipment in comparison to a rough terrain forklift unit. They are also ganglier to use and requires a higher level of skillfulness to finish the job. On the upside, they get the reach if they require it. There will continuously be a place in the industry for forklifts though, since there are places which you would not be able to access with a telehandler.
The rough-terrain lift truck is small, compact and able to lift a heavier cargo vertically as opposed to the telehandler. Essentially, in order to use the right machinery for your application, you will have to determine what jobs exactly you will be completing, the kind of environment and conditions you will be operating in and what your load capacity is. These factors will help you decide what the best options available are.