Rough-terrain and vertical-mast forklifts keep lifting and positioning various building supplies on different jobsites even through the evolution and rise of telehandlers on the market. There are a lot of conventional-style lift trucks existing in the material handling business which lost market share to telehandlers. This occurred 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 once more due to their greater productivity, lower cost and adaptation of some telehandler-like features.
The straight mast forklift could complete double the job as a telehandler because of their excellent handling and maneuverability in addition to their better ground speed. Fascinatingly enough, rental outfits are beginning to charge higher rates on straight-mast models.
Rental purchasers are having major influence in the rough-terrain lift truck business. Over 50 percent 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 machinery in the material handling industry. Their popularity has given them a super advantage in terms of rental utilization. Their overall expansion has been moderated by their higher price. There is some forklift users who feel that telehandlers are not practically as helpful compared to conventional rough-terrain lift trucks for loading and unloading repetitive tasks. This means that although competition among telehandler marketers has lowered their prices, many choose the RT lift trucks which have been performing well for decades.
In comparison, the telehandler is a little slower, ganglier to operate and needs a higher level of skillfulness to complete the job. On the upside, they get the reach if they need it. There would continuously be a place in the industry for lift trucks though, since there are locations that you could not access with a telehandler.
Rough terrain lift trucks are usually compact equipment, smaller but more able to lift a heavier load vertically as opposed to the telehandler. Essentially, in order to use the best machinery for your application, you must determine what tasks precisely you would be accomplishing, the type of conditions and setting you will be operating in and what your load capacity is. These factors will help you decide what the right alternatives available are.