Rough-terrain and vertical-mast forklifts keep lifting and placing different construction supplies on different jobsites even through the evolution and rise of telehandlers on the market. There are numerous conventional-style forklifts existing in the material handling industry which lost market share to telehandlers. This occurred especially when the challenger broke onto the construction scene. Ever since that time, sales numbers have stabilized. Vertical-mast lift trucks have re-surfaced and seem to be becoming more popular again because of their greater productivity, lower cost and adaptation of certain telehandler-like features.
Straight-mast machinery will finish double the job which a telehandler would do due to their maneuverability and ground speed. Fascinatingly enough, rental companies are starting to charge higher rates on straight-mast models.
Rental buyers are having major influence within the rough-terrain forklift industry. More than half of all vertical-mast forklifts are currently being sold to a rental yard. These purchases are generally driven mostly by utilization, which is a factor closely followed by purchase price.
The telehandler has become a very popular machine within the material handling business. 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 several forklift users who feel that telehandlers are not practically as helpful as opposed to conventional rough-terrain forklifts for loading and unloading repetitive tasks. This means that even if competition among telehandler marketers has lowered their prices, many prefer the RT forklifts that have been performing well for decades.
In comparison, the telehandler is ganglier, a little slower to operate and needs a higher level of skillfulness to finish the job. On the upside, they get the reach if they need it. There will always be a place in the industry for lift trucks though, since there are locations which you would not be able to access with a telehandler.
The rough-terrain lift truck is small, compact and can lift a heavier cargo vertically compared to the telehandler. Essentially, in order to use the right machine for your application, you must determine what tasks precisely you would be accomplishing, the kind of circumstances and setting you will be operating in and what your load capacity is. These factors will help you choose what the best alternatives available are.