Gary Thompson of OKI Systems Ltd, was presented with a special James F. Dicke Pioneer Award at Crown Equipment Corp's awards ceremony.

Leading forklift manufacturers Toyota Material Handling USA Inc (TMHU) and Crown Equipment Corporation have honoured their top performing US dealers.

TMHU selected its 16 dealers for recognition from its nationwide network of 69 dealers and 189 dealership locations. The President's Award recipients received a Tiffany & Co crystal award each and were collectively congratulated in a full-page colour advertisement in the Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association Journal.

The winners, acknowledged at Toyota's national dealer meeting at the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort and Spa in California, also won trips to Geneva, Switzerland.

Crown presented its James F Dicke Pioneer Award to Gary and Joan Thompson, the dealer principals for OKI Systems Ltd with operations in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.

Crown senior vice president Jim Moran praised the Thompsons for their integrity, honesty, innovation and more than 38 years of service with Crown and its distributor network.

Lift Stak & Stor of Minneapolis-St Paul and Crown Lift Trucks of LaGrange, Illinois, also received James F Dicke Pioneer Awards. The awards, named after Crown's chairman emeritus James F Dicke, are given to top dealer and branch operations annually.

Twelve others distributors won Summit and Ascent awards at the annual national awards ceremony at the St Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, California.