ACT
TOWER
CRANE
50
29
AUGUST 2013
ACT
A slow recovery after a deep recession has kept tower crane utilization down,
although things are picking up. In its annual
TC
50,
ACT
explores the market.
year’s number of 550. The 24-location,
worldwide crane rental company has a
tower index of 180,584, which is also down
compared to 2012’s figure of 182,600.
Despite these slight dips, Morrow is the
industry tower crane giant, its index is
nearly four times more than our second-
place company, AmQuip, which sits at
44,239. AmQuip owns 86 tower cranes.
“We have one national tower crane
company, Morrow Equipment,” Bates
said at the conference last fall. “Morrow
is four to five times larger than the rest
BY THE NUMBERS
TOWER CRANES
1,283
TOTAL CAPACITY
364,244
tonne-meters
BRANCHES
196
EMPLOYEES
12,559
Bates said.
In this year’s Tower Crane top list,
American Cranes & Transport
reached out
to more than 100 crane rental companies
about their tower crane fleets. More
than 20 companies make up our survey
and companies are ranked by their
tower crane index, which is calculated
by adding together the maximum
load moment rating, in ton-meters,
of all the tower cranes in a company’s
fleet. This follows the same protocol as
ACT’s
other lists such as the
ACT
100
,
the
ACT
TRANSPORT
50
and the
SPECIALIZED
LIFTING
50
.
At the very top of our list is Morrow
Equipment with 519 tower cranes
currently in its fleet, down from last
Picking up
T
he North American tower crane
market – and specifically in
the U.S. – has been challenging
over the last three to four years. While
the industry struggles to regain its footing
after the gouging and crawling recession it
experienced, the tower crane market has
evolved, bringing with it more challenges
than before.
While speaking at the International
Tower Cranes Conference in late 2012,
Dennis Bates, vice president of AmQuip’s
tower crane division, said tower cranes
have become more complicated and
sophisticated in addition to the industry
facing increased regulations and
government codes. “All of these challenges
add costs to operating environments,”
1
JayDeeContractors
Kroll K1800
1,800
2
Morrow Equipment
Liebherr 1800 C
1,500
3
Oxford Builders Supplies
Comedil CTL 630
640
4
Allegiance Crane & Equipment
Comedil CTL 630-32
630
5
AmQuip Crane Rental
Potain MD 615
615
6
All Erection and Crane Rental
Potain MR 605 B
605
7
Compass Equipment
Comansa 21LC550
550
8
RMS Cranes
Potain MD 480
480
9
Skycrane
Terex Peiner SK 415
415
10
Connelly Crane Rental Corp.
Liebherr LTM 1300/1
360
Top 10 largest tower cranes
RANK COMPANY NAME
LARGEST TOWER CRANE
CAPACITY
>30
Skycrane, pictured here, ranks 11th on the
ACT
TOWER
CRANE
50
.
