1997 – The Beginning
It all started back on a Saturday morning in 1997 at the 12th Service Battalion in Richmond, BC. A small group of people (about 50 or so) came together to launch the BC Championship Forklift Rally. There was only one obstacle course (as of 2010 we run 4 simultaneously) and a small equipment trade show was held in the parking lot.
1998 to 2002 – The Lost Years?
Unfortunately we have little information on these years. The group that now runs the Rally started keeping records in 2003 but memories of Rally’s before that (save the 1st Rally) have faded over time. If you have any pictures or details about these years please drop us a note using our contact form. We would be happy to acknowledge your contribution on this site.
2003 – The Rally Steps Up Big Time
In 2003 the 7th Annual BC Championship Forklift Rally was held at the Toyota Canada Parts Distribution Centre in Richmond, BC. It was probably one of the best attended events because the Toyota facility was such a draw to the warehousing and logistics community and attendance that year included a tour of the facility. There was a trade show, displays of new Toyota vehicles and door prize draw for a weekend trip to Harrison Hot Springs. We had about 55 competitors and about 200 people in attendance.
2004 – We Help Lease a 200,000 Sq.Ft. Building
In 2004 the event moved to the old Telus building in Langley. Telus had already moved to a new location so the 200,000 sq.ft. facility was empty. We made arrangements for this building through a local commercial Realtor saying that there was a possibility an attendee might want to lease the building. We didn’t know if this was going to happen, we just crossed our fingers and hoped for the best. The forklift gods must have been looking on us kindly because that is exactly what happened. One of the attendees was a distribution manager who ultimately leased the building for the company he worked for.
2005 – The Final Year?
In 2005 the event was hosted by Neptune Foods on Annacis Island – they were great hosts and gave us lots of room and parking but little did we know that Neptune would be the last time the Rally would be held at a CMHDS member facility.
2006 – The Year Without A Forklift Rally
One of the challenges of putting on the Rally was finding a location each year. It’s not easy to find 20,000 sq.ft. which is going to be used for one day and open the public. Most companies have understandable security concerns and/or concerns about the impact on warehouse operations. Up until 2007 a big part of staging the Rally was to locate a company that would be open to hosting the event. Usually once a company did host the event they felt they had done their service for King and country and if we approached them again they would graciously decline (and we completely understood – the event does have a big impact on the hosting facility).
So, a good part of 2006 was spent looking for a location to hold the event but we had no luck. We couldn’t find any empty buildings and any companies we approached were busting at the seams and couldn’t clear the space in order to host the event. As the year came to a close we were wondering what the future of the Rally would hold.
(We know that because we missed a year we can no longer officially call it an “Annual” Forklift Rally – but we’re going to keep doing it anyway . . . sorry)
2007 – The Big Mistake And The Beginning Of A New Era
In 2007 we jumped on the coat tails of one of the local school boards and tried to hold the event at the Cloverdale Agriplex which they had already rented – so we organized and set the event – for a Tuesday.
The event had always been held on a Saturday but conversations with many of the competing companies said a mid-week competition wouldn’t be a problem and it wasn’t . . . for the companies. Many of them were running 7 days a week anyway so weekend or midweek wasn’t a problem. But it was a problem for the competitors and 3 weeks before the event we had only 1 person signed up to compete. A number of quick phone calls between the organizing committee members and the event was quickly rescheduled to a Saturday 4 weeks later.
In order to reschedule as quickly as we did we were required to rent a building at the Cloverdale Agriplex but due to budget restrictions we could only afford a building that measured out at 7,500 sq.ft. We were used to putting on the event with approximately 15,000 sq.ft. so with some quick meetings we figured out how to do it in an area half of what we were used to.
We managed to pull it off and it launched us into a new era. The Forklift Rally committee decided that instead of spending the bulk of our time looking for a location each year we would get the necessary sponsorship to rent a building. This way we could focus our efforts on improving and building the event as opposed to spending most of our time just looking for a place to hold the Rally.
2008 – We Start Rebuilding
In 2008 we held the Rally again at the same 7,500 sq.ft. building and again we pulled it off but we were busting at the seams. The event had almost 70 competitors and the day went off without a hitch (as far as we know anyways). This year also brought out the BC Lions for the first time and attendance started to climb so we agreed to move to a bigger venue in 2009.
2009 – Stepping Up
Still on the grounds of the Cloverdale Agriplex the 12th Annual BC Championship Forklift Rally was held in an 18,000 sq.ft. facility which gave us some room to breathe and to revive the accompanying trade show which we had to put on hold during the years when we couldn’t afford the space.
In addition to going to a facility that was 2.5 times the size of the facility’s used in the previous two Rally’s we launched www.ForkliftRally.com, offered online knowledge testing for the first time, and welcomed WorkSafeBC on board as a Rally supporter.
2010 – Forklift Basketball Anyone?
Once again we return to the Cloverdale Agriplex (we love that place), we draw 89 competitors (some from as far as Kamloops) and about 500 spectators throughout the day (we tried to count them but they kept moving).
Adecco supplies a Bouncy Castle for the kids, VANOC brings out an Olympic Torch, the Terminal City Roller Girls skate the obstacle courses, Project Blu supplies the tunes, Harding Motorsports brings out one of its Race Cars and we introduce Forklift Basketball (an idea we stole from the Washington State Forklift Rodeo – thanks guys!)
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