As Canada’s top partner for comprehensive Toyota forklift and material handling solutions since 1960, Liftow Ltd. is the largest Toyota forklift dealer in North America. With their partner Toyota, the market leader, Liftow provides premium equipment, rentals, parts, service, training and safety products.
Liftow helps their clients choose the safest, most advantageous and most cost-effective material-handling solution in the areas of sales of new or used material-handling equipment, rentals, parts, service, and corporate training. The management at Liftow emphasizes a commitment to genuine partnerships with customers while providing excellent service and high-quality products.
Liftow provides services in Ontario, Quebec and The Maritimes, along with British Columbia under the MasonLift name, Badger Toyotalift in Wisconsin and Northern ToyotaLift in Vermont United States.
With Liftow branches in Canada stretching from Windsor to St. John’s, the company’s acquisition of Badger Toyotalift, Northern Toyotalift, and MasonLift has resulted in a total of 25 branches across North America.
Covering North America
Liftow’s impressively large network allows it to service big companies with several different locations, helping resolve a variety of issues and challenges.
“What makes us unique is our local presence and the number of locations we have across North America,” says President Sheri Brimley. “It sets us apart so that we can be local to our customers and provide the best customer service experience.”
Liftow’s dedication to quality customer service is unparalleled, with highly trained and experienced associates ready to assist in any potential situation. Each location houses a branch manager, service, rental coordinators, parts associates, highly trained technicians, sales professionals and training consultants.
With more than 20 full-service branches and 300 factory trained technicians, Liftow can service customers wherever they are in the designated territories, 24/7. “We have dedicated new and used equipment representatives. In addition, we have Inside Sales and Aftermarket Representatives to assist our customers with their rentals, service and maintenance programs,” says Brimley.
Product lineup
As for the types of equipment Liftow sells, the variety is impressive, including electric counterbalance forklifts, narrow aisle-reach forklifts, walk-behind or ride-on pallet trucks, and internal combustion sit-down cushion tire or pneumatic tire forklifts, with capacities ranging from 3,000 to 125,000 lbs. including Telematics—the company has it all.
When it comes to used forklifts, the products are certified and have gone through complete inspection and reconditioning with genuine parts by Liftow’s Toyota trained technicians.
Training programs for all experience levels from beginner all the way to in-house trainers. “We offer national coverage, and we do online training as well as blended training. We are the largest training provider in North America,” says Brimley. “We also offer forklift tires for all applications as well as premium batteries, including Lithium batteries and battery service.”
Liftow also takes safety seriously, offering many products used in the industry, including drum handling equipment, facility protection, fall protection, forklift attachments, safety lights, scales, booms, propane safety ergonomics, and safety training accessories. The company’s online shop allows customers to buy these safety products online.
“Shop.toyota.forklift.ca allows our customers to conveniently access parts inventory and obtain pricing 24/7,” says Brimley. A model and serial number search feature eliminates guesswork, and a French version of the website is also available.
The new SEnS Smart Environment Sensor™ (SEnS) is a pedestrian detection system, designed and engineered by Toyota, which uses advanced technology and can assist operators in identifying a pedestrian or object behind their forklift during a shift. If within a detectible range, a buzzer and four indicator lights will alert the operator that a pedestrian or object is within a certain range of the rear of the forklift. SEnS is available as an add-on kit that can be retrofitted for select Toyota Forklift models currently in utilization, as well as new models. SEnS works with multiple input voltages and fits a variety of applications.
“Also to align with market changes and customer needs, Toyota Material Handling and Liftow are working with Toyota Advanced Logistics, integrated by Bastian Solutions, to bring our customers automation technologies that meet any market challenge,” Brimley shares.
Challenge and change
Along with its numerous successes, the company has experienced its share of challenges, particularly with supply and demand, and recruitment. “That’s a challenge for everybody, not just us,” says Brimley.
“In regards to employee retention, we are fortunate to retain a lot of our people. They love to work here and many have been here for 25 to 50 years. You don’t see that very often anymore.”
She adds that, “Liftow has its own recruitment team, and having this team has helped us tremendously in talent acquisition.”
Liftow clearly doesn’t fear change but embraces it; as an example, the company’s training division stepped up when it was needed most. “What set us apart is that we were able to do our online programs when customers couldn’t do in-class training, a solution that allowed us to service our customers through the pandemic,” Brimley explains.
Along with its commitment to training, service and technology, Liftow has numerous other areas to celebrate.
“What sets us apart is our culture, people, and structure,” Brimley says. “We’re innovative; we’re always looking at ways to be better from a technology perspective and improve processes and overall customer experience, a key brand pillar.”
