Toyota Material Handling adds battery vendor to forklift parts program

Material handling equipment dealer Toyota Material Handling U.S.A. (TMHU) has addedbattery and charger manufacturer EnerSys to its roster of suppliers for the firm's Starlift Parts Program, Toyota said Thursday.

The Starlift Parts Program is a full catalog of gear for all makes of forklifts, sweepers, scrubbers, personnel carriers, aerial work platforms, tow tractors, and other material handling equipment, Toyota says.

To help support its product launch, Reading, Pa.-based EnerSys recently attended TMHU's National Parts, Service, and CSS Manager's meeting in Orlando, Fla. where the company showcased their product and led a breakout session to train and educate attendees.

In addition to helping Toyota provide its dealer network with a complete product offering of Starlift products, the deal marks a move for TMHU to work more closely with EnerSys on developing integrated battery and charger technologies, TMHU Director of Aftermarket Operations Bret Bruin said in a release.

"Along with providing TMHU end-users easy access to our products, our participation in the STARLIFT program represents a key first step toward the development of more collaborative power solutions with TMHU," Chad Uplinger, EnerSys' vice president for motive power Americas, said in a statement.