Even after the rise and explosion of telehandlers on the material handling business, rough terrain lift trucks and vertical mast lift trucks could be found picking up and transporting different products and materials on jobsites around the world. There have been numerous other standard lift trucks that lost market share to telehandlers. This happened especially when the competition broke onto the construction scene. Since that time, sales numbers have stabilized. Vertical-mast forklifts have re-surfaced and seem to be becoming more popular again thanks to their greater efficiency, modification of some telehandler-like features and low cost.
Straight-mast machines will finish twice the job that a telehandler would do due to their ground speed and maneuverability. Fascinatingly enough, rental outfits are beginning to charge higher rates on straight-mast models.
Rental purchasers are having major influence in the rough-terrain forklift business. More than 50 percent of all vertical-mast lift trucks are presently being sold to a rental yard. These purchases are normally driven mainly by use, which is a factor closely followed by acquisition price.
Within the material handling industry, the telehandler has become the darling new machinery. Its popularity has improved its benefit in the rental market as well. Their overall expansion has been moderated by their higher price. There is some forklift users who feel that telehandlers are not practically as productive compared to traditional rough-terrain forklifts for unloading and loading repetitive tasks. This means that even if competition among telehandler marketers has lowered their prices, a lot prefer the RT forklifts that have been performing well for decades.
In comparison, the telehandler is ganglier, a little slower to operate and requires a higher level of skill to complete the job. On the upside, they get the reach if they require it. There will continuously be a place in the industry for forklifts however, as there are places that you would not be able to access with a telehandler.
Rough terrain forklifts are usually compact machinery, smaller but more able to carry a heavier load vertically compared to the telehandler. Basically, in order to utilize the right machine for your application, you must determine what jobs exactly you would be completing, the kind of environment and circumstances you would be operating in and what your load capacity is. All these factors would help you decide what the best options available are.