Lift truck dealers across six southeast U.S. states will face less business competition under a plan by Hyster and Yale parent company NACCO Materials Handling Group Inc. (NMHG) to authorize more dealers to sell both its brands under a single roof.

Cleveland-based NMHG announced a strategy this week to expand its dual-brand dealer network to include Gregory Poole Equipment Co., headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., and LiftOne LLC, based in Charlotte, N.C.

The move to re-engineer its sales territories is intended to eliminate the conflicts that now exist between competitive suppliers in those regions, NMHG said.

The complex restructuring will begin when Gregory Poole acquires the operations of Yale dealer Dougherty Equipment Co. Inc., based in Greensboro, N.C., including sales territory in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia.

Gregory Poole will then sell a portion of those Dougherty assets to LiftOne. Gregory Poole will also acquire additional operations from both VBS Inc. Materials Handling Equipment a Hyster dealer with six branch locations across Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina and from Briggs Equipment Inc., a dual-brand Hyster and Yale dealer.

Together, those movements will make Gregory Poole the Yale dealer in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia and the Hyster dealer in most of Virginia and in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina, and West Virginia.

The changes will also allow LiftOne to represent Yale in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. LiftOne is currently the Hyster dealer in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Virginia, and Kentucky, and the dual-dealer of both Hyster and Yale brands in portions of Tennessee.

"Representing over 10,000 units per year, across five states, with four eastern United States marine ports (Norfolk, Wilmington, Charleston, and Savannah), the market presently serviced by Dougherty Equipment, VBS, and Briggs is critically important to both Hyster and Yale," NMHG vice president for dealer business development Bob Sattler said in a release.

"Network re-engineering and competitive conversion activity are important in securing our position as industry leaders in independent distribution. We are delighted to welcome Gregory Poole as our newest dealer and believe that their commitment to excellence and record of performance representing competitive brands will quickly translate into success with Hyster and Yale customers," Sattler said.