Last year's Washington contest

Plans are under way for two forklift rodeos this year in the Northwestern region of the United States.

The Columbia Forklift Challenge will take place on 11 March at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon, and the 18th annual Washington State Forklift Rodeo is set for the second half of the year in multiple locations.

Al Rainsberger of the Foss Maritime Co. and Mark Ribich of Boeing are organising the Washington rodeos for the 16th straight year.

"As with every year, the main focus is on the safe operation of the forklift," Ribich says.

He points out that he and Rainsberger have not yet quite decided what this year's theme will be. Typically, though, it deals with something like pedestrian safety or the safe use of crates or pallets.

Although firm dates have not yet been determined, an eastern regional competition will be held in late June, probably at the Spokane Fire Department Training Facility in Spokane, and a western regional competition will take place at the Boeing Kent Space Center in August. The state championship will be held in conjunction with the Governor's Conference on Industrial Safety and Health, scheduled for 7-8 October at the Tacoma Convention Center in Tacoma.

Companies are recommended to begin now holding in-house competitions and prepare to enter the regional events.

Thirty to 35 entries will be permitted to compete at the regional events and the top five individuals and the top two three-person teams at each regional competition will move on to the state championship.

Winners of the regional competitions will receive USD300 and the state championships USD500.

Rainsberger and Ribich organise the event each year on behalf of the material handling committee of the Washington Governor's Industrial Safety & Health Advisory Board and the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries.

In the meantime, plans are in place for the Columbia Forklift Challenge on 13 March (Forkliftaction.com News #700). Like the Washington state rodeo, the challenge is held in conjunction with another event. In this case, it is the Oregon Governor's Occupational Safety and Health Conference.

This will be the third edition of the biennial event in which participating drivers will be asked to negotiate tight turns, manoeuvre through a slalom run, stack pallets and containers in designated locations and then roll a bowling ball off a pallet in an attempt to knock down a set of bowling pins.

While the 2013 event had 46 competitors, organiser Craig Hamelund, an education specialist with the Oregon State Division of Occupational Safety and Health, expects that a smaller field of 35 drivers this year will provide stronger competition.

Prizes ranging from USD200 to USD500 will go to the top three individual forklift operators and the top team. Team scores are determined by the total of three individual scores.