Thanks for the feed back InventoryOps
When I have been in South Africa and the US I hear the same comments about guided man up machines and I believe that CE regulations here in Europe tie up the VNA machine's productivity which does not appear to be the case in the States but it certainty applies here in the EU.
The swing mast phoneme does not exist in the UK or in Europe to the same extent that it does in the states. EU and BITA (British Industrial Truck Association) make strong recommendations against intrusive stacking which limits its appeal compared to an articulated truck. Couple this with the fact that they are "handed*" has made it a harder sell in the UK. Having said that, we were instrumental in get the US Pivot Mast made by Landoll up and running before Landoll acquired the Drexel product and we're in agreement that it can be a fantastic tool especially for the military where it handles missiles on ships etc.
Something else that appears to be regional is that the articulated trucks available so far in the US are to a different spec to most of the UK built machines which can now achieve the previously illusive VNA aisles comfortably.
Just to add a twist, we have double deep articulated trucks up to 9m. The benefits are a smaller aisle (typically 2-2.4m) and without the need for bottom beams. The only limitation here with articulated double deep is the lift capacity as it limited to 500-750kg capacities at the back location to this sort of height.
*handed:- can only stack on one side of the machine