It’s been an idea we’ve been proud of because it is the only listing of crane fleets that is open to all and based purely on information from crane owners. Over the years, we’ve refined the listings, adding new capacity classes, for example, as more and more rental companies offer bigger cranes.
But, it has also been difficult to offer the comprehensive resource we are aiming for. So, this year, we have been investing in expanding the depth of our research, and in recruiting a researcher to contact fleet owners. We hope by doing this, and by delaying publication until later in the year, we will be able to give a deeper and more detailed picture of the current shape of the crane industry.
As we expand the survey to include more companies, we’ll be pulling it out into a standalone supplement. We’ll be accompanying the Fleet File listings with new features that look at crane owner ship in a slightly different way to how we do in the main magazine.
Our aim in the magazine is typically to look at the operational use of cranes: presenting case studies, looking at technologies, discussing the regulations that impact those running crane fleets.
With the new Fleet File supplement we’ll be taking a narrower focus, looking at cranes as assets. We’ll be including features that consider the financing options and services available to you when you go to buy a crane. We’ll be considering how you track the crane’s use and measure the return on your investment. And we’ll be looking five or ten years down the line, to the point when you look to sell your crane, whether that’s in an auction or through a secondhand dealer.
The first new Fleet File supplement will be sent out at the end of this year. As we prepare for it, we’ll be sending out survey forms by email to thousands of fleet owner s around the world. As in recent years, we will only be accepting entries via an online form, to help ensure the accuracy of the survey.
But we’ll follow up with calls to many of you. I’ll also, in our next issue, be running a printed version of the survey form, for you to prepare your answers on.
I hope that all of the fleet owners among our readers will take part. As ever, it’s a great opportunity to let customers know what cranes you have available. I’ll welcome your suggestions on how to further refine and improve the survey.
