Telescopic handlers are a bit like forklifts. It has a single telescopic boom which extends both upwards and forwards from the truck, and a counterweight situated within the rear. It works much more like a crane than a forklift. The boom can be outfitted with a variety of attachments. The most common attachment is pallet forks, but the operator can also attach a lift table, bucket or muck grab. Also known as a telehandler, this particular kind of machinery is usually utilized in industry and agriculture.
A telehandler is commonly used to move loads to and from areas which would be hard for a standard forklift to access. Telehandlers are commonly utilized to unload pallets from within a trailer. They are also more practical compared to a crane for lifting loads onto other high places and rooftops.
The telehandler has one major limitation. Despite counterweights at the back, the weight-bearing boom could cause the machine to destabilize when it extends. Therefore, the lifting capacity decreases when the distance between the center of the load and the front of the wheels increases.
The Matbro company developed telehandlers in England. Their design was based on articulated cross country forklifts utilized in forestry. Initial models had a driver's cab on the back section and a centrally mounted boom on the front, but today the design which is most common has a strong chassis with a side cab and rear mounted boom.