The Industrial Truck Association (ITA) has improved regulator relationships, considered becoming a standards-developing organisation and gained greater insights into automotive industry needs.

ITA president Dirk von Holt gave a state-of-the-association report yesterday during the association's 53rd annual spring meeting in Washington. Mr von Holt is president of Jungheinrich Lift Truck Corp USA and Multiton MIC Corp/Jungheinrich, both of Richmond, Virginia.

"Our initial plans for an alliance with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) are going [well]. We have already established common links on operator training and rules and regulations [for] young people operating industrial trucks. We are very near to establishing a link to a revised daily checklist," he said.

Mr von Holt expressed confidence in working with OSHA on other issues such as lock out/tag out and lifting in unison. ITA's "executive committee has established a task force on this, and I am confident we will be able to reduce the number and severity of accidents by working together", he said.

ITA could become a standards-developing organisation under the auspices of the American National Standards Institute. "It is clear that the American Society of Mechanical Engineers will drop the sponsoring of some standards, and we want ITA to step in," Mr von Holt said. "This is our industry, and we need to maintain our leadership role."

ITA has played a key role in developing standards governing forklift safety in Canada, he said.

ITA was exploring how to deal with the imposition of duties on USA-originated parts and industrial trucks heading to Europe and what to do, if anything, about the "incredible increase in the cost of steel and steel products".

ITA has established a close relationship with the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) to gain insights to AIAG's efforts to develop best practices for suppliers to the automotive industry.

ITA reported 2003 receipts of USD1.82 million, expenses of USD1.806 million and a balance in the cash reserve fund of USD320,000, "an amount we believe is adequate for an organisation of ITA's size", Mr von Holt said.

ITA holds its annual meeting from October 23 to October 26 in Miami, Florida, and will host the Alliance of Industrial Truck Organisations, consisting of the management committees of the ITA, European Federation of Materials Handling and the Japan Industrial Vehicles Association.