NIPPON EXPRESS HOLDINGS, INC. (President: Satoshi Horikiri) participated in the 39th National Forklift Truck Driving Competition held at the Chubu Truck Training Center in Aichi Prefecture on Saturday, September 28 and Sunday, September 29, and won both the general division and the women's division. In all, six employees placed high in the competition, demonstrating the safety awareness and driving skills they have cultivated within the NX Group.
(Group photo of NX Group participants: front row center left: Mana Ito, front row center right: Shuko Sato)
(Scenes from the competition)
This driving competition was sponsored by the Land Transportation Safety & Health Association ("LTSHA"), and held for the purposes of raising awareness vis-a-vis legal compliance and safety, improving driving knowledge and skills, establishing safe work practices in the workplace, and preventing industrial accidents through forklift driving competitions.
Sixty-two contestants (47 in the general division and 15 in the women's division) who had won preliminary prefectural competitions sought to become the best forklift operator in Japan in the three categories of training, inspection, and operation.
Shuko Sato (from Nippon Express' Okayama Branch), who won the women's division last year, became the first woman to win the general division, while Mana Ito (from Nippon Express' Nagoya Branch) won the women's division, giving the NX Group a remarkable double victory in the general and women's divisions.
The NX Group competitors who placed or won are as follows:
| 1st place | Shuko Sato | Nippon Express (Okayama Branch) |
|---|---|---|
| 4th place | Haruhiko Kubo | Nippon Express (Shimonoseki Branch) |
| 5th place | Shinichi Nagumo | Nippon Express (Gunma Branch) |
【Women's Division】
| 1st place | Mana Ito | Nippon Express (Nagoya Branch) |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd place | Mayo Shintani | Nippon Express (Shiga Branch) |
| 5th place | Yukiko Domon | Nippon Express (Donan Branch, Hakodate Branch) |
The NX Group will continue cooperating in LTSHA activities to eliminate occupational accidents, and will work to achieve zero accidents and disasters by instilling safety awareness in all employees under the safety philosophy of "Safety takes precedence over everything else".
＜Comments from the winners＞
General Division Winner: Shuko Sato
"I am relieved that we were able to achieve our goal of winning both divisions, and I am grateful for your warm encouragement and support. Thank you so much!"
Women's Division Winner: Mana Ito
"I am the person I am today, and I was able to come in first place, thanks to the support of my family, instructors, and everyone at my workplace. I hope to put the skills and knowledge I gained in this competition to use in my work."
