In 2008 it was recognised that there was a need to have a forklift competition to build a higher level of awareness of the correct use of forklifts in the supply chain. Each year there are a number of fatalities caused by poor forklift driving processes and a lack of basic operator knowledge and skill.
Approximately ten years ago a national forklift competition existed in Australia resulting in a few elite operators competing in Hong Kong and Europe. This competition ceased to exist leaving a need in the marketplace.
Bill Henman, the NSW President of the Supply Chain and Logistics Association of Australia and a forklift driver in a past career, decide to reintroduce a forklift competition as he regularly saw poor driving habits in many workplaces which were unsafe.
To assist in defraying administration and operating costs of hosting the multiple heats, semi finals and the national final, companies who work in the supply chain market space, have been asked to sponsor components of the event.
It is planned that the Australian champions will again travel overseas in 2010 or 2011 and competes with the best international forklift operators from around the world.
2008 CHAMPIONSHIP
In 2008 the championship was held in Sydney in conjunction with MATEX, a major trade exhibition. This event specialised in materials handling equipment and attracted approximately 4000 visitors over two day event at Homebush in Sydney. Multiple heats were held in Brisbane and Sydney with the finalists travelling to the championship. The event was then called the “Great Fork Off†drawing a parallel to the great race movies titles. The competitors assessments were conducted by government approved forklift assessors who donated their time and effort to make the event a success.
The Champions for 2009 (male and Female categories) were Trevor Webb from Sydney Markets and Angela Molloy from Pacific Brands.