Comments Archive

Viva l'Italia
15 March 2018 Visiting the North of Italy in January may not be on most people’s list. Putting aside the cold and Milan’s inexplicable fog, it was an enjoyable week; full of beautiful scenery, delicious food and interesting discussions with local manufacturers. These discussions will turn into articles, full of exclusive information, which you will find in this and the following issues of the magazine.

Knowledge matters, for all in lifting
12 February 2018 Two recent stories demonstrate the efforts the industry is making to build knowledge of lifting, for both apprentices and customers. Next month, in Hamburg, ESTA's wind energy summit will take place for the third time, after making impressive progress in building links with with energy firms; recently, in England, the industry successfully launched a new programme for apprentice lifting technicians.

Lifting with limited room to move
19 January 2018 As much by chance as by intention, this month's issue includes a series of articles looking at how crane designers and project engineers squeeze lifting power into restricted environments.

A year of slow improvement
18 December 2017 It's the time of year when I look back over previous copies of Cranes Today to see what the industry has achieved. I think it's fair to say that 2017 has not been a great year—few sales records have been set, the big trade show had few big surprises—but it has not been a bad year.

Conflicting interests, split opinions
20 November 2017 I've had a series of interesting conversations over recent weeks. It's a time of year when we get many invitations to product launches and factory open days. I've also had a chance to catch up with a few senior executives as they take on new roles, or as their companies go through a transition.

A ladder into the crane industry
25 October 2017 This month, we look again at the important role training and certification plays in the industry. There's some good news from the two big certification outfits, the NCCCO in the US, and ECOL in Europe.

Fibre rope returns to the mainstream
28 September 2017 The potential benefits of fibre rope, versus the steel wire rope routinely used in the industry, have for a long time been a focus for crane manufacturers and rope experts. When I started on this magazine, a little over ten years ago, crane engineers were considering ways to overcome problems with how rope would (or rather, would not easily) spool on the drum. Today, those issues appear to have largely been fixed, not by major changes to crane...

Stronger fleets, in a stronger Fleet File
18 August 2017 As the crane rental industry around the world leans towards recovery—we saw confidence at ConExpo in the USA, and, as described in this issue, at Vertikal Days in the UK—many this year will be hoping to see fleets upgrading and growing.

Disaster and hope in London
19 July 2017 As this issue of Cranes Today was being written, London was hit by one of its worst disasters in decades. A fire took hold in the Grenfell Tower, a social housing block in one of the city's richest areas, Kensington, killing around 80 people. The details emerging from the police investigation—which treats the disaster as a potential manslaughter case—are horrifying.

Selling cranes to the world at large
30 June 2017 The crane industry is at once ever-present in the public eye, yet largely invisible.

Trials of faith, signs of redemption
16 May 2017 The crane industry's long march out of the slump caused by the global financial crisis continues like the final stages of the Compestela pilgrimage – a painful and exhausting crawl on bloody hands and knees.

Borders, deadlines threaten US industry
17 April 2017 As the worldwide construction-equipment event cycle evolves, it has become harder and harder for any event other than bauma in Munich to really claim to represent the global industry. ConExpo in Las Vegas certainly makes a good showing, but with launches in a hard market recently focused on the German show a year before, it is hard for it to claim to be anything other than the biggest show in the Americas, not a transatlantic contender for the...

The winds of change
21 March 2017 The wind-turbine industry has provided the push for some of the most exciting innovations in the crane and special transport industries. From Grove's unique GTK telescoping-tower mobile cranes, featured on the cover of this issue, or Liebherr's giant LTR telecrawler, through to some of the most highly optimised crawlers available, the sector has pushed the boundaries of what can be lifted.

China crisis
16 February 2017 I write this comment as the Chinese New Year is celebrated. Like in many cultures, people in China have a series of traditions that say that, as your new year goes, so goes the rest of the year.

A throw of the dice
23 January 2017 This month, as the year gets underway, we have articles looking back over the past 20 years, and forward to the year ahead. With ConExpo in Las Vegas, we also take a first look at some of the cranes we expect to see at the show.

An ominous future
21 December 2016 At the start of this year, many of us would have been hoping for the upturn in world construction that we've been waiting for since 2009. It doesn't look much more likely now than it did 12 months ago. At the same time, the crane industry faces ongoing challenges from regulators and politicians.

Old and new
21 December 2016 In recent years, we've been working to refine Fleet File. This year, we've not made any further changes to the survey itself. We now have sections for wheeled mobile cranes, rough terrains, crawlers, tower cranes and compact cranes, all split up into capacity classes that broadly indicate the jobs they can take on. I'm pleased to say that we've this year got enough responses to provide a decent snapshot of the industry, without including any...

October surprises
07 November 2016 This month has been surprisingly busy for the crane industry. Often, autumn is the down season for crane launches, falling between the big trade shows in the spring. This October though, we've had four very significant pieces of news.

The power of invention
03 October 2016 This month's issue spotlights some of the innovations, big and small, that drive the lifting industry forward.

At 500, a look to the future
26 September 2016 This month's issue of Cranes Today is the 500th we've published. Looking back over issues of the magazine, it's easy to see how cranes have been transformed by technology, with a wealth of interconnected sensors and electronic control systems making lifting safer and the operator's job more comfortable.

Don't forget to get listed
22 August 2016 Over the past few years, we've been working to refine Fleet File, our annual survey of crane fleets around the world. The 2016 survey is now open, and offers a quick, easy, and free way show the world what cranes you have available.