Vertical-mast and rough-terrain forklifts keep picking up and placing different building supplies on various jobsites even through the evolution and rise of telehandlers on the market. There are numerous traditional-style lift trucks offered within the material handling market that lost market share to telehandlers. This happened specially 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 again because of their greater production, modification of certain telehandler-like features and low cost.
Straight-mast machines will finish two times the job which a telehandler would do due to their ground speed and maneuverability. Interestingly enough, rental companies are starting to charge higher rates on straight-mast units.
Rental buyers are having significant influence within the rough-terrain lift truck industry. More than half of all vertical-mast forklifts are now being sold to a rental yard. These acquisitions are normally driven mainly by utilization, that is a factor closely followed by acquisition price.
The telehandler has become a very popular equipment within the material handling industry. Their popularity has given them a super advantage when it comes to rental utilization. Their overall expansion has been moderated by their higher price. There is some forklift users who feel that telehandlers are not nearly as useful as opposed to conventional rough-terrain forklifts for unloading and loading repetitive jobs. This means that even though competition amongst telehandler marketers has lowered their prices, a lot choose the RT lift trucks 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 finish the job. On the upside, they get the reach if they need it. There will always be a place in the business for forklifts however, as there are locations which you can not access with a telehandler.
Rough terrain forklifts are normally compact machines, smaller but more able to lift a heavier cargo vertically compared to the telehandler. Essentially, in order to utilize the best equipment for your application, you must determine what tasks exactly you would be completing, the kind of setting and circumstances you would be operating in and what your load capacity is. These factors will help you decide what the best alternatives available are.