What are the Benefits of using a Telehandler on a Jobsite?

Imagine that you work at a job where you, your coworkers, or your employees need to get up to high places. For instance, perhaps you work in construction, in tree-trimming, at a farm, or at a warehouse. How are you safely going to get yourself or a coworker up high to do a precarious job while following OSHA safety regulations and preventing jobsite injuries? Without the proper equipment, this would be a challenging task. That’s where telehandlers come into play. Short for “telescopic handler”, these vehicles are similar to forklifts. Telehandlers are versatile hydraulic lifting machines that allow for safe lifting practices on a variety of job sites. We are Lombardi Lift and our team designed our own, unique telehandler and aerial work platform. Today we would like to discuss the many uses for telehandlers and the benefits of using them for your projects on the jobsite.

The Differences between Telehandlers and Forklifts

Before we dive into the benefits of telehandlers, we wanted to outline the clear distinctions it has from forklifts to avoid any confusion. These two pieces of equipment are both incredible units that make the lives of millions of workers much easier every day, but there are some key differences.

1. Functionality: Forklifts are designed to move things up and down for the most part, and to some extent forward and backward. While the functionality is very simple, it is very effective. Telehandlers, on the other hand, can typically extend further than forklifts, can rotate more easily, and don’t need to move the base of the machine to move the boom forward and backward.
2. Capability: Forklifts are smaller and are capable of fitting into smaller spaces, which is why they are often the preferred vehicle for indoor spaces such as warehouses. Telehandlers are a bit bigger and are capable of reaching greater heights. Also, the booms of telehandlers are designed to fit different attachments, such as our Lombardi Lift Versatile Work Platform, which gives these vehicles a wide range of capabilities based on the attachments. 
3. Common Uses: Forklifts are more common in warehouses, although larger warehouses often have telehandlers as well. Forklifts are smaller and simple to use so they are perfect for maneuvering in smaller warehouses and moving materials indoors. Telehandlers can be safely used for lifting people using an attachment like our work platform. The attachments for telehandlers can also include scoops, buckets, winches, or even hooks that allow them to operate similarly to a crane. Since they are so versatile, they are highly preferred over forklifts for construction work, farm work, and for the work of other outdoor industries.

The Benefits of Telehandlers

As we mentioned above, telehandlers are a very versatile vehicle that can make the lives of workers so much easier. Here are some of the main benefits.

1. All-in-One: Since they are one vehicle that can perform a wide variety of tasks using different attachments, these attachments can save companies a lot of money, time, and resources by not requiring multiple vehicles to get the job done. They are very cost-effective, and are often the first piece of equipment on the jobsite and the last one off.
2. No Limits: While this is a bit of an exaggeration, compared to a forklift the telehandler is practically unlimited. The design is so versatile that it allows the boom to reach high places, rotate with ease, and operate unconventionally to make otherwise complicated tasks with more limited machines much simpler.
3. Any Environment: A telehandler can leverage weight on any surface, even rough terrain on a farm or debris-filled terrain in a construction site. This of course means that they can also easily handle smooth, flat surfaces like pavement or the concrete in warehouses. Since it can work as a crane or a lift, indoors or outdoors, it gives you more options than any other similar device.

Top Telehandler Brands

These are some of the best telehandler brands in the marker. It is always important to do research before investing in an expensive piece of equipment like a telehandler, so we encourage you to do your own research, but these are a few of the top brands that we would recommend:

• JLG
• Caterpillar
• SkyTrak
• Manitou
• Lombardi Lift

We proudly acknowledge our great competitors who also work hard to make people’s lives easier by making these incredible, versatile aerial lifts. Our industry is competitive, but the work that we do is important because of the great benefits from our aerial lift vehicles.

Lift Your Team up This Year

Are you interested in investing in a telehandler? If so, that’s great news! You will save your company a lot of time, money, and resources by doing so. Please feel free to contact the Lombardi Lift team if you have any questions about our original versatile work platform or telehandlers in general. We are happy to answer your questions and we hope to see you lift your team up in 2023!