William J. Montwieler, executive director of the Industrial Truck Association (ITA), will retire at the end of the year, after 28 years in the role.

ITA confirms that Montwieler will be succeeded by Brian Feehan, vice president of the Propane Education & Research Council, who will take over on January 1st.

Montwieler has been praised by ITA president Jeff Rufener for the major changes to and improvement in the services that ITA offers its members. As highlights, he cites the association's statistics program, its engineering practices, the work with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the establishment of the Industrial Truck Standards Development Foundation and "the enhancement of our contacts with our sister associations abroad through the Alliance of Industrial Truck Organizations".

Asked about any unfinished business after his tenure, Montwieler tells Forkliftaction.com News a number of stiff challenges remain - "all built around helping members retain the market they currently have, and expanding it both technologically and geographically".

"Retaining the market means trying to assure input into the development of regulations that govern the sale of products in the US, such as EPA and CARB actions ... and expanding our inclusion of new technologies, whether fuel cells or RFID, into the product line," he explains.

The outgoing executive notes that while the US and Japan have eliminated import tariffs, "Europe has a 4.5% tariff and China has a 9.5% tariff (so) the playing field is not flat".

"We need to work as best we can through the Alliance of Industrial Truck Organizations and, if that proves too difficult, individually with our sister associations to eliminate those unequal barriers," he says.

Forkliftaction.com News hopes to include Feehan's views on the challenges ahead in a future newsletter.

The Industrial Truck Association represents the manufacturers of lift trucks and their suppliers who do business in Canada, the United States or Mexico.