Organisers of the International Forklift of the Year (IFOY) Awards have added three new categories for the 2016 contest.

In addition to the two traditional forklift categories (counterbalance up to 3.5 T and over 3.5 T), a 'special vehicle' category has been included to cover special-purpose vehicles, container stackers, transportable forklifts and heavy-load forklifts with capacities of over 8 T.

The warehouse truck category has been divided into highlifters and lowlifters.

The Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) category has been extended to include shuttle vehicles.

Another new feature is the "Special of the Year" category with the emphasis on "outstanding technical details or components that significantly improve cost efficiency, sustainability or the physical or psychological conditions for the user".

Besides new categories, the contest has also been refreshed with the addition of three new judges, including Forkliftaction.com News editor Allan Leibowitz. He is joined by the editor of Switzerland's Logistik&Fördertechnik and the publisher of Brazil's "LOGWEB Magazine, taking the judging panel to 25 members from 17 countries.

Intralogistics providers can register for the competition at www.ifoy.org and the winners will be announced during the CeMAT opening ceremony in Hannover on May 31, 2016.