Rough-terrain and vertical-mast forklifts keep picking up and positioning different building supplies on different jobsites even through the rise and evolution of telehandlers on the market. There are lots of conventional-style forklifts existing within the material handling industry which lost market share to telehandlers. This happened specially 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 efficiency, modification of some telehandler-like features and low cost.
The straight mast lift truck can complete two times the job as a telehandler due to their excellent maneuverability and handling along with their better ground speed. Fascinatingly enough, rental companies are starting to charge higher rates on straight-mast units.
Within the rough-terrain forklift business, rental buyers have been having a greater influence. Over half of all vertical-mast lift trucks are now being sold to a rental yard. These purchases are generally driven mostly by utilization, that is a factor closely followed by acquisition price.
The telehandler has become an extremely popular machine in the material handling business. Their popularity has given them a better advantage when it comes to rental use. Their overall expansion has been moderated by their higher price. There is several forklift users who feel that telehandlers are not nearly as useful compared to conventional rough-terrain forklifts for loading and unloading repetitive jobs. This means that even if competition among telehandler marketers has lowered their prices, many choose the RT lift trucks that have been performing 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 require it. There will always be a place in the industry for forklifts though, because there are places which you would not be able to access with a telehandler.
Rough terrain lift trucks are normally compact machines, smaller but more able to lift a heavier load vertically compared to the telehandler. Basically, so as to use the best equipment for your application, you would have to determine what tasks exactly you would be completing, the type of environment and circumstances you will be operating in and what your load capacity is. All these factors will help you decide what the right options available are.