Leading brands for the environment

Here at Industrial Truck Service part of our dedication to our customers isn't just providing the best brands for the job at hand but also giving our customers lift trucks that will have as little impact on our environment as possible. As an ever growing area of concern "the environment" means different things to many people, but when it comes to business it is far more specific. In large part thanks to the fact that many businesses are able to track and measure what they do to find efficiencies this kind of bottom-line driven environmentalism is at odds to some of the more "tree-hugger" images that some people think of when people start talking about "going green."

Leading the industry in reaching the EPA Tier 4 emissions requirements in LPG/gas and diesel forklifts, both Toyota and Crown are constantly improving and expanding their electric forklift options as well. Zero emission, exhaust free lift trucks provide a wide variety of safety, health, and cost reducing benefits to their owners but are also some of the greenest lift trucks you can run, but when your need the raw power that internal combustion can provide, these incredible brands have you covered!

The thing about going green is like most things in life there isn't a single path to get there. While the average person might turn down the thermostat a couple of degrees in the winter and up in the summer, buy a more fuel efficient car, or even retrofit their home with geothermal or solar power, companies that make things have to look at the entire process starting at the other end. Often called "cradle to grave planning" companies like Crown and Toyota have moved towards implementing the ISO 14000 family of standards. First released in 1996 (ISO 14001) and updated twice since then (currently ISO 14001:2015) it provides practical standards for companies interested in managing their environmental footprint.

Where do Toyota and Crown fit into this you might be asking by now? Not content with just making lift trucks with minimal environmental footprints, since 2004 Toyota's Columbus, Indiana factory has been a "Zero Landfill" facility, while Crown brought its New Bremen, Ohio facility to this status in 2011 (since then Crown has added five more facilities to this list). Like the name suggests nothing from these plants reaches a landfill, with up to 96% of materials being recycled. The remaining 4% is processed in waste-to-energy facilities that the companies have partnered with near their operations.

Like many environmental programs in business these acts have not only decreased the amount of waste left over, but have saved these companies money as well! Toyota reduced energy consumption by nearly 25% and natural gas consumption by 65%, while Crown has seen decreases in water use in their manufacturing by 70-80%!

While smaller than these manufacturing giants we at Industrial Truck Service have embraced the same kind of 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) thinking in our operations. Long time supporters of local recycling initiatives, our three branches in Manitoba and Saskatchewan participate in programs for general recycling (paper, plastic, etc..), metal/scrap, responsible oil disposal and recycling, as well as participating in provincial Tire Stewardship programs. In our Winnipeg branch in the past year we've changed over to high efficiency micro-fluorescent lighting; not only improving how well lit our shop area is but also decreasing our power consumption as well. We've also switched over to LED panel lighting in the office side of the building. Future projects include expanding this kind of lighting to our branches in Saskatoon and Regina to further reduce our impact on our environment and expanding our assessment program to help us continue to improve in the future.

Working together with both Crown and Toyota we look forward to a greener future with you.