Toyota Material Handling CEO Wood Elected as Chairman of Industrial Truck Association for Second Time
Brent Wood, president and CEO of Toyota Material Handling North America, remains at the forefront of the material handling industry as the second individual in the 70-year history of the Industrial Truck Association (ITA) to be elected twice as chairman of the board of directors, effective January 1.
Wood has served in various roles during his three decades with the ITA. During his first term as ITA chairman from 2015 to 2018, Wood was pivotal in establishing the ITA’s economic impact report Lifting America: The Economic Impact of Industrial Truck Manufacturers, Distributors and Dealers. This marked a significant milestone as the first-ever initiative to quantify material handling statistics that provide invaluable insights to the industry.
“I am honored to serve as a champion for the ITA, to drive positive change and promote the impact of the powered industrial truck industry,” said Wood, who also serves as a senior executive officer for TMHNA’s parent company, Toyota Industries Corp. “The ITA serves as an invaluable resource to its members, creating industry-wide initiatives and driving positive change for the collective whole and all who work closely with powered industrial trucks.”
As chairman, Wood collaborates with the executive board to determine ITA’s strategy, communicates the association’s position on industry issues and drives industry-wide initiatives, and promotes the positive impact the powered industrial truck industry has on the global supply chain. By embodying Toyota’s culture of Kaizen – or continuous improvement – and upholding Toyota’s core values, Wood’s leadership is integral in advancing and promoting the vital role industrial trucks play in manufacturing, warehousing, logistics and distribution.
“We are thrilled to welcome Brett as the Chair of the ITA’s Board of Directors,” said Brian Feehan, president of ITA. “His leadership and deep industry expertise will be invaluable assets as we continue to drive member value and raise awareness on safety.”
Wood championed the founding of National Forklift Safety Day, an annual event dedicated to reinforcing safety protocols and practices among forklift manufacturers. The 11th National Forklift Safety Day will be held on June 11, 2024, in Washington, D.C. This initiative continues to serve as a testament to Wood’s commitment to prioritizing operator safety and promoting safety standards.
Learn more about Wood and his dedication to the material handling industry at ToyotaForklift.com.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.