ALI History

Book cover with black and white image of old car on a lift above color image of a new car on a lift

The Automotive Lift Institute (ALI) celebrates its 75th anniversary as the lift safety watchdog in 2020. ALI has come a long way since nine forward-thinking car lift manufacturers came together with a vision for a safer lift industry in 1945. Guided by its mission to promote the safe design, construction, installation, inspection and use of automotive lifts, ALI and its members have protected you for 75 years and will continue to faithfully watch over you in the future.

 

Learn more about how ALI got its start, the development and evolution of car lift safety standards, how Lifting It Right has trained generations of technicians, what’s behind the ALI Gold Label, our work with Richard Petty and more by downloading our free ALI history book: The Automotive Lift Institute: Protecting You for 75 Years.

 

Walk through ALI history year-by-year with our timeline. You can also read the highlights in the resolution recognizing ALI’s 75th Anniversary adopted by the ALI Board of Directors at the 2019 Annual Meeting.

 

Since our founding in 1945, ALI has more than doubled its manufacturer membership, has added an Associate Class of lift inspection company members and currently has more than 250 additional non-member lift manufacturer and inspection company participants. We sponsor three ANSI/ALI lift safety standards covering seven recognized lift types for cars, trucks, motorcycles and other vehicles. We have ANSI-accredited certification programs for automotive lifts and automotive lift inspectors. And we promote lift safety and lift safety training every day through Lifting It Right, our educational outreach programs and materials.