Hoist Liftruck, now called Hoist Material Handling, has a long intertwined history with Forklift Exchange and the Flaska family, as these companies operated synchronously for nearly 25 years.
Over 40 years ago, Marty Flaska decided to drop out of technical college and pursue an entrepreneurial career, setting up shop in his garage with the dream of becoming a business owner. With some mechanical experience from working in their father’s small forklift repair shop, Marty and his younger brother, Mike, founded Forklift Exchange in 1980 and quickly outgrew their makeshift office, turning their startup into an equipment empire with hundreds of machines and locations spanning the entire country.
With Forklift Exchange’s wholesale business growing rapidly, Marty needed more space and moved into a facility in Addison, Illinois. Soon thereafter in 1994, he acquired the rights to Silent Hoist & Crane Company’s cushion tire forklift line, a Brooklyn, New York-based material handling equipment manufacturer that was initially formed in 1918 and served as a leader in the forklift manufacturing industry for decades, with their FKS design created in 1958 for Alcoa to handle their aluminum products. Rebranding the company as Hoist Liftruck Manufacturing, Marty began his new venture manufacturing FKS model forklifts.
With the newfound success of Hoist, Marty shifted his entire focus toward increasing Hoist’s production. As his order sheet got longer, the business demanded an even larger space, so he moved shop to Bedford Park, Illinois in 1998. At that time, Marty unveiled Hoist Liftruck’s second-ever forklift model, the Titan Series.
Two years later in 2000, Marty sought to establish Hoist as an industry leader in material handling equipment manufacturing, and purchased the rights to Elwell-Parker, a Cleveland, Ohio-based company that designed the first-ever electric forklift. In his effort to be constantly expanding, Marty bought the right to both Clark’s CDP line some months later and the rights to Auto Lift in 2001.
The 2000s was marked by innovation and numerous product releases, as Hoist launched a pneumatic tire line in 2003 called the P-Series, the Neptune marina forklift line in 2005 that introduced negative lift masts for the first time globally, along with developing and manufacturing a full suite of intermodal equipment, including the Empty Container Handler in 2009, Loaded Container Handler in 2010, and Reach Stacker in 2011.
During this time, his brother Mike continued to grow Forklift Exchange’s presence across the United States while Marty worked to increase throughput at Hoist. Forming a unique synergy across his ventures, Marty achieved vertical integration through Forklift Exchange’s relationship with Hoist as a national dealer, giving him the ability to sell direct to end users with aftermarket support.
In 2014, Hoist Liftruck set its sights on the extendable counterweight market and launched the FR Series. After initial success, Toyota Material Handling U.S.A. and Hoist entered into an exclusive private label agreement in 2015 to produce their THD product line. Once again continuing to offer a growing collection of products, the Hoist T-Series Terminal Tractor was released in 2017.
For a third time in the company’s history, the Flaskas decided to move operations to a different location in 2015. Not only did they need a larger facility, but also a friendlier environment for manufacturing companies and business owners. The winner was a 550,000 square foot facility in East Chicago, Indiana. After a full renovation and state-of-the-art assembly line designed from the ground up, Hoist Liftruck was operating in full swing with over 400 employees, many of which have been with Hoist ever since the first Addison location.
After nearly 25 years of hard work and ambition, Marty and the Flaska family decided to sell Hoist Liftruck to Toyota Industries North
America in 2019. Under new leadership, Toyota rebranded as Hoist Material Handling Inc and continues to manufacture heavy duty equipment.
Once the sale of Hoist Liftruck was finalized, the Flaskas turned back to where it all began and returned to their wholesale equipment business, Forklift Exchange. Growing from 2 to over 100 employees over the next 5 years, Forklift Exchange was drastically transformed from simply being a buyer and seller of new and used machines to a full-scale nationwide service and parts provider, new equipment dealer for several brands, and the leading source for marina forklifts in North America.
Continuing their strong spirit of entrepreneurship, the Flaska family now partners with a host of brands surrounding Forklift Exchange such as the T Series Yard Boss, Marina Trucks Sales, Royal Parts Sales, Royal RIG-N-LIFT, Hoist Material Handling, and Loadmac.
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