A telescopic handler is like a forklift. It possesses one telescopic boom which extends both forwards and upwards from the truck, and a counterweight in the rear. It works more like a crane than a forklift. The boom can be equipped with a variety of attachments. The most popular attachment is pallet forks, but the operator could also attach a lift table, bucket or muck grab. Also called a telehandler, this kind of machinery is normally utilized in industry and agriculture.
A telehandler is often utilized to move loads to and from areas which will be hard for a standard forklift to access. Telehandlers are commonly utilized to unload pallets from in a trailer. They are also more handy compared to a crane for lifting loads onto rooftops and other high areas.
There is only one major limitation in utilizing telehandlers. Even with counterweights at the rear, the weight-bearing boom can cause the vehicle to destabilize as it extends. Therefore, the lifting capacity decreases as the distance between the front of the wheels and the centre of the load increases.
The Matbro company developed telehandlers in England. Their design was based on articulated cross country forklifts utilized in forestry. First models consisted of a driver's cab on the rear section and a centrally mounted boom on the front, but nowadays the design which is most common has a rigid chassis with a rear mounted boom and side cab.