50
ACT
DECEMBER2014
PRODUCT FOCUS
TOWERCRANES
The emergence of the tower cranemarket from
the economic recession has presented a new set of
challenges.
John Skelly
reports.
capacityof cranesnow in the
U.S. the full reboundwon’t be
felt by everyoneuntil someolder
cranes are retiredorweededout
of themarkets.”
Agrowing concern is the
disparitybetween the rising
priceof tower cranes and the
somewhat flat rental rates they’re
going for.
“New tower cranes todayare
nearly twice asmuchas they
were in2006, yet someof the regional
players still feel they shouldbase ratesoff
of 2006 equipment prices,” saidBardonaro.
“We all have to recognize the added costs
of labor, service, parts, equipment and
insurance.With these cost factors inmind,
it is important for the rental companies to
properlydemonstrate these issues toour
customers so that everyoneunderstands
the economics involved inmaintaininga
safe andmodern fleet.”
His sentimentwaspreludedbyAlan
Barnhart in thekeynote addressof the
WorldCrane&Transport Summit aday
earlier. Barnhart’s call toarmswas to
“celebrateprofitability.”He encouraged
attendees anddelegatesnot tounderquote
their services anduseda few examples
fromhisownbusiness that he considered
someofBarnhart’s largest failures.
Shaping themarket
Maximhas 11Terex tower cranes (a
combinationof hammerhead, luffing
jiband flattop)working to construct the
BrickellCityCentre along theMiami
coastline. The$1.05billionproject spans
fourblocks andwill includeboth retail
and residential space.
According toRuediVanCoppenolle,
managerof tower cranes, Terex, 2014
tower crane sales areupover 2013and the
last twoyearshave showngrowth inboth
A
t theWorldCrane&Transport
Summit inMiami last
month therewas a colorful
conversationbetweenpresenterGary
McArdle, executivevicepresident, Rouse
Services, and the attendees about the
stateof the tower cranemarket.While
McArdle’s rental trackingmetrics showed
tower craneutilizationwasdown inNorth
America, industry leaders likeAl Boveof
AmQuipandFrankBardonaroofMaxim
claimedotherwise.
Bove inparticularwas adamant that not
onlywas the tower cranemarket up, he
couldn’t find enoughof them for all the
work cominghisway. The contrastwas
pleasantly enlightening toMcArdle.
“Maximhas experienceda robust
increase inutilization through the2014
calendar yearwithbacklog into2015and
2016,” saidFrankBardonaro, president,
sales andbusinessdevelopment,Maxim
CraneWorks. “Our ability tomeet our
customer’sdemands anywhere in the
U.S. has enabledus to increaseour
fleet sizeby15percent this year and
maintainutilizationabove90percentwith
continuedability to increase rates.”
That doesn’tmean themarket is
completelyout of thewoods, though.
“Thebiggest issue facing the tower crane
market is that during the2006-2008years
therewere far toomanynew cranes sold
into theU.S.,” saidBardonaro. “The actual
amount of tower cranes available for rent
during theperiod increasedbynearly50
percent in theU.S. alone.With that excess
thehammerheadand luffing jibmarkets.
“TerexCranes andourpartnershave
long-lastingand strong relationshipswith
ourAmerican customers,”he said. “This
paysout, especiallynow that themarkets
aregrowingagainandwe look forward to
increasingour salesnext year accordingly.”
Cranebuyershavegottenparticular asof
late aswell.
“In theolddays ‘biggerwasbetter,’” said
Coppenolle. “Previouslypeoplewould
over-buy, thinking theywouldbe able to
coverother jobsdown the road, but now
purchases aremore specific toaparticular
application requirement.”
Coppenolle agreeswithBardonaro that
theusedandold cranemarketsneeded
todryupbut thinks it’s a littlebit further
along.Next comes the returnof rental
rates topre-2008 levels and thebuyingof
new tower cranemodels.
“Once the rental rates areuppeople tend
tobe ready to start buyingagain,” said
Coppenolle. “If the rentalmarket does
not godown, and it hasover the last few
months, purchasing shouldgoupagain.”
TerexCranes recentlyannounced the
introductionof theirnewCTL1600
luffing jib tower crane. It has twoand
ahalf times the loadmoment anda10
meter longer jib than theprevious largest
Terex luffing jib tower crane.
Manitowoc seesdemand for luffing
Up and away
An aerial view of the Brickell City Centre in
Miami being constructed by AmQuip’s fleet of
Terex tower cranes.
Greg Belcoff of Coast Crane says large
hammerhead and luffing tower cranes are
seeing increasing demand.
