Vertical-mast and rough-terrain forklifts keep lifting and placing different building supplies on different jobsites even through the evolution and rise of telehandlers on the market. There are many conventional-style lift trucks existing within the material handling industry that lost market share to telehandlers. This occurred specially when the challenger broke onto the construction scene. Ever since that time, sales numbers have become stable. Vertical-mast forklifts have re-surfaced and seem to be becoming more popular once more due to their greater productivity, alteration of some telehandler-like features and low cost.
Straight-mast machines will finish twice the work which a telehandler will do due to their maneuverability and ground speed. Interestingly enough, rental outfits are starting to charge higher rates on straight-mast units.
Rental buyers are having significant influence within the rough-terrain forklift business. Over 50 percent of all vertical-mast lift trucks are presently being sold to a rental yard. These acquisitions are generally driven mostly by use, which is a factor closely followed by acquisition price.
Within the material handling business, the telehandler has become the darling new machine. Its popularity has improved its advantage in the rental market too. 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 traditional rough-terrain forklifts for loading and unloading repetitive jobs. This means that even though competition amongst telehandler marketers has lowered their prices, a lot prefer the RT lift trucks which have been performing well for decades.
In comparison, the telehandler is a little slower, ganglier to operate and requires a higher level of skill to complete the job. On the upside, they get the reach if they need it. There will always be a place in the business for forklifts though, because there are locations that you could not access with a telehandler.
The rough-terrain forklift is small, compact and able to lift a heavier cargo vertically compared to the telehandler. Essentially, in order to use the best machine for your application, you would have to determine what jobs exactly you will be accomplishing, the kind of environment and circumstances you would be operating in and what your load capacity is. All these factors will help you decide what the right options available are.