Cesar Jimenez, the 2024 National Forklift Safety Day Chair, did not plan to work in the forklift industry. Rather, as a mechanical engineering student, he had set his sights on the automotive industry. In 1993, he was awarded a four-year scholarship to the University of Southern California from the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. Between his junior and senior years, he had a summer internship with Toyota’s automotive business, which had funded his scholarship.
After graduating, Jimenez returned to Toyota and entered a career rotation program that sent him to work at TIE (Toyota Industrial Equipment), the forklift arm of the company. The rotation included a stint in a parts distribution center; while there, he learned how to operate different types of lift trucks and to pick and pack orders. It wasn’t what he was looking for, though. “After that I went back to the car side of Toyota,” he recalls. “I thought that would be the end of my life in material handling.”
Jimenez changed his mind when the manager he’d been reporting to from the time he was a college intern—Brett Wood, now president and CEO of Toyota Material Handling North America and senior executive officer of Toyota Industries Corp.—called and offered him a new position. He has stayed with forklifts ever since.
Over the past 27 years, Jimenez has held a number of product planning and technical positions and has been instrumental in the launch of more than 50 material handling products. Now vice president of regulatory affairs, product planning, and product assurance, he oversees Toyota’s products from predevelopment through launch, warranty, and resolution of any technical issues, as well as regulatory and trade compliance. A member of the Industrial Truck Association (ITA), he has chaired the organization’s Energy Storage Systems Subcommittee and General Engineering Committee.
In his role as National Forklift Safety Day Chair, Jimenez spoke with DC Velocity about the past, present, and future of forklift safety.
Q: WHAT ASPECTS OF THE FORKLIFT INDUSTRY DO YOU ESPECIALLY ENJOY OR FIND MOST REWARDING?
A: One of Toyota’s core values is to be studious and creative, striving to stay ahead of the times. So solving customer problems with new solutions is what I truly enjoy. For example, designing products in a way that reduces energy usage to improve sustainability is a passion for me. I have also thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to work within such a diverse group of companies. Toyota is a global organization, so I have been fortunate to work with a lot of great companies, such as Bastian Solutions, The Raymond Corporation, our parent company, and other sister companies in Japan and Europe. I am even doing some outreach back to the car side, where I also enjoyed working.
Q: HOW HAS FORKLIFT SAFETY IMPROVED SINCE THE TIME YOU BEGAN WORKING IN THIS INDUSTRY?
A: Safety definitely has come a long way since then. There are a number of reasons why 1999 was a huge year for the industry in regard to safety. That’s when OSHA adopted required operator training, which marked a huge step forward in operator safety. At that time, the industry also saw the introduction of active stability systems.
Since then, many OEMs have introduced some form of telemetry that includes features such as operator checklists and user access badge-in, which restricts who is able to operate a particular truck. Other developments in the works include the automatic parking brake, which automatically engages when the forklift comes to a complete stop, and seatbelt interlocking devices to prevent the truck from starting if the operator is not buckled in.
There are so many others. Blue lights and now also “side curtain” lights, which are typically red, help to draw the attention of pedestrians. Changes in ANSI [American National Standards Institute] standards like the clamp release interlock require the forklift operator to make two distinct operations before a clamped load is released. This helps to prevent the operator from inadvertently releasing something like an 8,000-pound paper roll. And there is VR [virtual reality] simulation that “gamifies” part of operator training. It doesn’t replace hands-on training, but it can be the next best thing—before new operators start actually using a forklift, they can have an immersive, interactive experience that makes the lessons and training more memorable.
Q: ARE THERE ANY AREAS YOU THINK MERIT MORE ATTENTION FROM FLEET OPERATORS?
A: I think it’s important to remind anyone who operates a truck as well as fleet managers to prioritize safety at all times. That needs more attention, I think. When people take safety for granted, they don’t put it front and center.
Another area fleets should pay special attention to is using technology to improve operator safety. Adopting new technologies can be a challenge and something that comes with added expense. Fleet managers don’t have to commit up front and can work with the forklift OEM or the dealer to try it as a demo. I encourage fleet operators to be open to trying something new and be willing to adopt new technologies that will help to enhance and improve operator training and [provide] a safe work environment.
Q: ANY FORECASTS FOR WHERE FORKLIFT SAFETY TECHNOLOGY WILL BE IN ANOTHER FIVE TO 10 YEARS?}
A:} I don’t have a crystal ball, but being in product planning, I think about emerging technologies a lot! I can tell you about a few things we at Toyota foresee. One is forklifts becoming better connected to vision technology. For example, Toyota’s Smart Environment Sensor Plus (SEnS+) uses a stereoscopic camera mounted on the back of the truck to detect objects and pedestrians behind the forklift and alert the operator. The system has the ability to slow the truck to a stop or not allow the truck to move if something or someone is behind it. As forklift vision technology products get better, we expect to see more customers using them, and they may become commonplace in the next five to 10 years. We also think advances in vision technology mean we will see more AGVs [automated guided vehicles]. Although there won’t be operators on that type of equipment, there will still be plenty of work for forklift operators.
Integrated safety systems are also likely to bring enhancements to forklift safety. Think about some of the newer safety features in your car, like collision avoidance and steering correction. Some are based on light detecting and ranging (LiDAR) technology, which can be used for tracking other vehicles to maintain safe distances. For example, if you’re out on the highway, adaptive cruise control will automatically slow the car if it “sees” that you’re approaching another vehicle. We think that type of technology will eventually make its way from the automotive industry into material handling, including forklifts.
Q: WHY DOES NATIONAL FORKLIFT SAFETY DAY MATTER TO DC Velocity’s READERS—WAREHOUSE AND DC MANAGERS AND FORKLIFT FLEET OWNERS?
A: Customers tell us that safety remains their number one concern, whether that’s the safety of forklift operators or of pedestrians in the vicinity of where trucks are operating. National Forklift Safety Day highlights forklift safety training and best practices, so it’s a valuable source of information for end-users. With ITA livestreaming the June 11 portion of the program, that information is very accessible to everyone. We plan to continue doing that every year to make this event available to more people.
Editor’s note: This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
