Cranes, Inc. profile

Founded in 1940, Cranes, Inc. helped lift America from the Great Depression, both figuratively and literally. Paul Weiss started Cranes, Inc. as an offshoot of a steel erection company he founded with A.J. McNulty in 1925.

As the original business began to expand with the nation's economy, Weiss found an increasingly large share of his profits were being absorbed by crane rental expenses. Cranes, Inc. grew from this situation and his ultimate decision to build his own fleet of Link-Belt truck cranes to service metropolitan New York.

Soon Weiss was renting his cranes to others in the industry. In 1966 Weiss began a 40-year tenure as head of A.J. McNulty & Co., which had become one of the area's leading erectors of structural steel and pre-cast concrete when he died on 30 June 2006, at the age of 98.

Cranes, Inc. equipment played a major role in the construction of hundreds of prominent structures and landmarks in the metropolitan area, including office towers, apartment buildings, schools, hospitals and sporting arenas. Of recent note, the company's cranes were instrumental in the construction of the spectacular new Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Natural History and Kennedy Airport's International Arrivals Terminal. Three of the company's largest crawler cranes are at work constructing the future home of the New York Football Giants and Jets.

Paul Weiss also built a proud family legacy. Raised in the business, his son Larry became president in 1980. He has continued to expand Cranes, Inc. into one of the major crane rental houses in the Northeast US.

Assisting greatly in these endeavours has been Paul's grandson Robert, vice president of Cranes, Inc., who joined the company in 1991. Robert Weiss was one of 23 individuals selected to serve on OSHA's Crane and Derrick Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee (C-DAC). After meeting almost monthly for a year, C-DAC completed its ambitious agenda of achieving consensus on a proposed standard covering construction crane operations in the US on 9 July 2004. The standard had not been revised since 1971.

Through his work on C-DAC, Robert Weiss gained an appreciation of SC&RA. The Association became even stronger when Cranes, Inc. became a member in 2004. Earlier in 2008, Robert Weiss became Chair of the SC&RA Crane & Rigging Group's EN 13000 Task Force, which is working to resolve differences between the United States and Europe concerning changes to the European standard for the design of mobile cranes.

In recent years, Cranes, Inc. also has earned a strong reputation for purchasing revolutionary new equipment, particularly from Liebherr. Cranes, Inc. began its relationship with Liebherr in 1996 during the ConExpo exhibition.

"We saw the LTM 1160/2 on display and were impressed by its tremendous boom length and technological advances. As a result, we purchased the second ever to come to the US," said Robert Weiss. "At that time, Liebherr was relatively unknown in this country, but we recognized that they had something special to offer the market."

Since then, Cranes, Inc. has made a point of purchasing the first or second crane produced for almost every Liebherr model of all terrain and crawler crane used in the United States. About half of the company's 50 cranes are Liebherrs, with capacities to 625 US tons (567 tonnes).

The well-rounded fleet at Cranes, Inc. also includes the latest, most advanced industrial, rough terrain, truck and tower cranes from Link-Belt, Manitowoc (Grove) and Favco.

"We have tried to position ourselves to service all areas of the construction industry," said Larry Weiss.

Cranes, Inc. complements its fleet with knowledgeable sales staff and skilled and well-trained team of mechanics, "Our sales manager, Emanuel Zaccone, is intimately familiar with all our cranes, in all their multiple configurations, and can readily respond to the needs of our customers," noted Robert Weiss. "In addition, our service manager, Robert Serrone, has been with Cranes, Inc. for over 28 years and has received extensive training at the Liebherr factories in Ehingen, Germany and Nenzing, Austria. Cranes, Inc. is proud to offer our customers a modern fleet of equipment backed by a true commitment to service."