 From left are Simon Larkin and Rob Vetter, both with IVES Training Group; Mike Weinman with Boeing Co; Stan Howard of Stellar Safety Supply; Mike McAllister of Boeing; Tim Eacrett of Boeing; Doug Graham of Boeing; and Joe Camacho of Papé Material Handling. |
Top individual operator Doug Graham led Boeing Co to a team victory in the 14th annual Washington State forklift rodeo.
"We had a great event," says Mark Ribich, a rodeo organiser and Seattle district materials handling manager in the site services organisation of Boeing's shared services group.
Fifteen drivers competed in the individual competition and 18 in the team competition. They represented 10 companies.
"This was the cream of the crop, the top operators in Washington State," Ribich notes.
Operators lifted and transported separate pallets holding a basketball, a cone-balanced tennis ball or a pipe and drove through a slalom course.
Behind Graham of Boeing site services in Kent in the individual category, Noel Noyola of Columbia Crest Winery in Paterson took second place, Mike Weinman with Boeing materials handling in Seattle third place, Boyd Bekemeyer of Travis Pattern & Foundry Inc of Spokane fourth place and Rod Barton of Kaiser Aluminum Corp of Spokane fifth place.
For individual achievement, Graham received USD500, Noyola USD400, Weinman USD300, Bekemeyer USD200 and Barton USD100.
The safety supply business unit of Tacoma-based Stellar Industrial Supply Inc sponsored an engraved high-end knife from Buck Knives Inc for each of the 15 finalists, with place-specific prizes for the top three. In the previous 13 rodeos, Stellar sponsored belt buckles.
In the team category, Graham, Weinman and Mike McAllister, also in the Kent facility, won the award for Boeing. Chicago, Illinois-based Boeing is a major aerospace and defence corporation.
The second place team from Puget Sound Energy consisted of Jeff Edmond, Jay Pratt and Robert Boyer. Regulated utility Puget Sound Energy of Seattle is the core business of Puget Energy, a subsidiary of Puget Holdings LLC of Bellevue.
To qualify for the finals, individuals competed in regional events. The top five individual competitors from each regional event qualified for the 28 September finals on an automatic transmission forklift with a lifting capacity of 5,000 lbs. (2,250 kg). The western Washington division of the Papé Group Inc's materials handling equipment unit provided Hyster and Yale forklifts, and NorthWest Forklift Inc of Renton provided Linde and Nissan forklifts.
The materials handling committee of the governor's industrial safety and health advisory board and the state's labor and industries department presented the 2011 rodeo in conjunction with the 60th governor's safety and health conference in the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Centre. Registration, sponsor and vendor fees pay for the event.
Meanwhile, the Springfield Clark County Safety Council continues to work toward resuming its US Open Forklift Rodeo & Safety Expo in 2012 after cancelling the 2011 event
(Forkliftaction.com News #523).
The council's steering committee is seeking to "have someone on board by the end of the year in order to commit to an event in 2012", says Kristina Downing, council chair. "To date, we have someone willing to handle the logistics of running the event, but no-one to take on marketing it."
Forkliftaction.com has been a long-time supporter and sponsor of the event in Springfield, Ohio.