Dot Foods Cambridge City took top honors at this year’s Forklift Rodeo National Championship in Mt. Sterling on June 12. The annual contest welcomes machine operators from each of Dot’s 15 distribution centers to square off in a skills showcase against the best in the business.
At nationals, contestants used their warehouse machine of choice–forklift, narrow aisle, pallet jack, and order picker–to pick up a pallet with an upside-down trash can topped with an unsecured basketball. They then had to navigate a challenging course outlined by traffic cones and return the pallet in the fastest possible time. Penalties were incurred for dropping the basketball, hitting a cone, or operating the machine in an unsafe manner (e.g. not honking after a stop, raising forks too high, etc.).
In order to compete at the national level, qualifiers had to first compete in–and win–a regional competition held at their home distribution center. Winners were flown to St. Louis to participate in Dot’s Mid-Year Operations events ahead of the Thursday afternoon contest at Dot’s Mt. Sterling headquarters.
The winning Cambridge City team was represented by Tony Harris (narrow aisle), Jared Davis (pallet jack), Jon Carter (forklift - second place), and Matt Coggin (order picker - second place). Dot Foods Ardmore (Oklahoma) and Dot Foods Burley (Idaho) rounded out the top three.
Individual winners were as follows:
---Narrow Aisle---
First Place: John French, Mt. Sterling (Dry)
Second Place: Brandon Battice, Ardmore
Third Place: Nic Gream, Dyersburg
---Forklift---
First Place: Brian Treat, Bullhead City
Second Place: Jon Carter, Cambridge City
Third Place: Justin Gray, Williamsport
---Pallet Jack---
First Place: Jon Moore, Mt. Sterling (Frozen)
Second Place: Andrew Holt, Manchester
Third Place: Ramon Landeros, Bullhead City
---Order Picker---
First Place: Kanielle Wilson, Ardmore
Second Place: Matt Coggin, Cambridge City
Third Place: Katie Cuevas, Burley
Top winners in each heat won a $2500 travel voucher. Second and third place finishers took home a $200 and $100 gift credit respectively.