How has business been since we last spoke just over a year ago?
Business has been steadily increasing. I think that is due to a number of reasons. One, we increased the number of tradeshows and conferences that we attended this year, including expanding into new sectors of our industry.
Two, we increased the size of our sales team and hired new representatives, in both the Gulf Coast and Pacific Northwest, who are doing a tremendous job since coming on board.
Three, we are maintaining our business model of being primarily bare rental and when it comes to operated and maintained work we are considering O&M on a case-bycase basis.
Finally, we are continuing with our re-manufacturing efforts with our Lampson Millennium 4100 and 4600 model cranes as well as becoming part of the Manitowoc ENCORE programme.
Has the uptick in rental work that you started to see in early 2023 maintained or not?
Yes, we have seen a retention in rentals the past year and I believe that is due to more sales efforts on our part, more projects coming online and companies willing to spend money for these projects, increasing demand in various market sectors such as refineries, manufacturing plants and warehouses, stadium builds, infrastructure and marine services.
How would you describe the current state of the heavy lifting industry in North America?
We feel that the market is improving; supply chain challenges, however, remain and that makes it difficult from both a manufacturing and purchasing standpoint.
And what is the state of the market with regards to international work?
International work has been steady for us in both Australia and Canada on the heavy lift side of the business, and we predict it will remain that way going forward. As far as heavy haul projects, we remain busy in Australia.
Where are your international premises located?
We have one branch office located in Canada that provides crane services all over the country, as well as four branch offices in Australia providing heavy lift and heavy haul services across the continent.
TRANSI-LIFTS
What is current demand like for your Transi-Lift heavy lift cranes?
Enquiries for the Transi-Lift remains steady and we continue to quote work in various market sectors, both domestically and internationally.
Which application areas are your Transi-Lifts primarily being used in?
Most of the demand is in the oil and gas industry with refinery work, new stadium builds, infrastructure projects, nuclear and some wind work.
How many Transi-Lifts do you have in your fleet?
We have manufactured over 30 Transi-Lifts and we currently have 16 in our rental fleet.
When was the most recent one made and what are its key specifications?
The most recent Transi-Lift to be manufactured is the Lampson Transi-Lift LTL-3000. It has a lift capacity of up to 3000 US Tons and is fully mobile with any charted load. It has up to 400’ of Lampson Pin Together main boom and comes with two different jib styles. It comes with hydraulic hoists and electronic fingertip controls.
Assembly time is six weeks and disassembly time is three weeks. It is easily transportable via truck, train, barge or ocean-going vessel and can be shipped anywhere in the world.
When they’re not working, where do you store the Transi-Lifts?
When our Transi-Lifts are not at work they are typically stored at one of our office locations or laydown facilities.
How easy/difficult are they to transport?
The Transi-Lift is easily transportable via truck, train, barge or ocean-going vessel. Depending on the model of crane, it can be broken down into 80 to 100 truckloads and shipped via one or two barges (depending upon the size of the barge).
From there it is transloaded onto an oceangoing vessel as break bulk and shipped anywhere in the world.
Tell us more about how Transi- Lifts can be used on barges?
We have used the Lampson Transi-Lift on barges; however, we removed the crawler transporters to make the crane more like a derrick structure and for this particular project, it was two Transi-Lifts on a jack-up barge.
Is this a common type of job for it and for what type of applications would you mount one on a barge?
No, it is not a common practice to mount a Transi-Lift on a barge, but if configured like a derrick, it can be done.
CRAWLER TRANSPORTERS AND SPMTS
How in-demand are your crawler transporters?
We are constantly quoting work for our Crawler Transporters both domestically and internationally.
A lot of the demand is for work on mine sites in Australia, Canada, Southern and Central America, as well as the United States.
How many crawler transporters do you have in your fleet?
We currently have 40 crawler transporters in our fleet.
What application areas are they primarily being used for?
We use our Lampson Crawler Transporters for all types of applications: from the refining industry, where we move transformers, combustion generators and process vessels, to the Canadian Oil Sands, where we moved experimental mobile slurry facilities for slurry at the face applications.
They are also used in the mining industry where we move shovels, crushers, apron feeders and draglines through the Australian Outback.
And how many SPMTs do you have in your fleet?
We currently have over 400 hundred lines of towable and self-propelled trailers in our fleet including ones from Goldhofer, Scheuerle, Nicolas and Cometto.
Do you ever need to move loads from your crawler transporters to your SPMTs? If so, what type of scenario requires this?
We have performed a move where we needed to circumvent bridges along the route that could not handle the load. As such, we used the Lampson Crawler Transporter to move a steam generator down the beach of surfing mecca Onofre, in San Diego County, California, and then transferred it onto a partner’s SPMTs for transport on an improved road for the final mile.
LATTICE BOOM CRAWLERS
What application areas are your Lampson Millennium 4100 crawler cranes seeing most work from?
We do a lot of work in the marine industry, specifically barge work and pile driving as these cranes can be equipped with a ring attachment – increasing its capacity from 230 US tons to 300 US tons.
We have also seen a demand for our Lampson Millennium 4100 crawler cranes from the wind, energy and infrastructure sectors.
How many Lampson Millenniums do you have in the fleet?
We have currently manufactured 25 Lampson Millennium 4100 Crawler Cranes and, of those, we have sold seven.
We are now manufacturing five more to add to our fleet. In addition to the Lampson Millennium 4100 Series Crane we are also manufacturing our second Lampson Millennium 4600 crawler crane.
OTHER CRANES
How big is your fleet of conventional cranes and what crane types does it include?
We have over 400 pieces of equipment in our fleet with everything from 65T hydraulic cranes to our conventional cranes including classes up to 750 US Ton and our Lampson Transi-Lift ranging from 350T-3000 US Ton.
Why are so many of your conventional cranes from manufacturer Manitowoc?
We have had a longstanding relationship with Manitowoc going back over 60 years when my grandparents were running the business.
As we did back then, we still like that they are a reliable product, provide excellent customer service and are American made.
Having said that, we do also have cranes in our fleet including Link-Belt, Tadano, Kobelco and Liebherr – and all of those companies provide us with the same level of reliability and customer service.
Out of these cranes, which crane types are in most demand and why?
We are seeing quite a bit of demand for the Manitowoc 18000, 16000, 2250 and 999 crawler cranes as well as the Lampson Millennium 4100 crawler crane.
ENGINEERING SERVICES
What’s new from Lampson?
Something new that we are offering as one of our services is our hydraulic pull test system.
This system is comprised of 850 US Ton capacity with a 100’ maximum rigging length individually or assembled. We can test anything from wire rope and synthetic slings to shackles, hooks, and links to spreader bars and lift beams.
We also offer qualified rigging engineering assistance as well as the custom design and fabrication of lift gear.
Why did you decide to offer this service, who is using it, and how does it help them?
We are currently the only company on the Western coast of the United States offering this service. Because of this it is saving our customers from having to ship their spreader bars and rigging gear all the way down to the gulf coast for testing. This is saving them both time and money.
Are there any wider industry issues that you’d like to highlight?
The Biden Administration’s restrictive policies on energy i.e. coal, natural gas and a moratorium on drilling, not to mention its negative outlook on hydroelectricity, is having a highly restrictive effect on our industry as a whole. For the good of our industry, and of our country, we are certainly hoping for a change of Administration in November.
