Even after the rise and explosion of telehandlers on the material handling industry, rough terrain lift trucks and vertical mast lift trucks could be found lifting and moving various products and supplies on jobsites all around the globe. There have been numerous other standard lift trucks that lost market share to telehandlers. This occurred especially 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 once more because of their greater productivity, adaptation of some telehandler-like features and low cost.
The straight mast lift truck can finish two times the work as a telehandler due to their superior maneuverability and handling along with their better ground speed. Interestingly enough, rental companies are beginning to charge higher rates on straight-mast models.
Within the rough-terrain lift truck business, rental buyers have been having a greater influence. More than 50 percent of all vertical-mast forklifts are presently being sold to a rental yard. These purchases are generally driven mainly by utilization, which is a factor closely followed by acquisition price.
In the material handling business, the telehandler has become the darling new equipment. Its popularity has improved its advantage in the rental market as well. Their overall expansion has been moderated by their higher price. There is some lift truck users who feel that telehandlers are not practically as productive as opposed to conventional rough-terrain forklifts for loading and unloading repetitive jobs. This means that although competition amongst telehandler marketers has lowered their prices, many choose the RT lift trucks that have been working well for decades.
The telehandler is a bit slower equipment in comparison to a rough terrain forklift model. They are also ganglier to use and requires a higher level of skillfulness to complete the task. On the upside, they get the reach if they need it. There would continuously be a place in the business for lift trucks however, as there are places which you can not access with a telehandler.
Rough terrain lift trucks are generally compact equipment, smaller but more able to carry a heavier cargo vertically compared to the telehandler. Basically, so as to use the right equipment for your application, you would need to determine what jobs precisely you will be completing, the type of conditions and setting you would be operating in and what your load capacity is. These factors would help you decide what the right options available are.