This report concerns the North American market for mobile cranes, and is the first report on this subject published in Off-Highway Research’s North American Service.

The findings presented in this report are based on an extensive interview program undertaken with all major manufacturers and importers in USA and Canada during summer 2023, and incorporates information from Off Highway Research’s North American Database.

Mobile cranes are classified by their lifting capacity. Internationally this is usually stated in metric tonnes, but in North America it may be stated in either (short) US tons or in metric tonnes. For the sake of consistency in this report, given capacities are in metric tonnes unless otherwise stated.

The machine types covered in this report comprise all terrain, lattice boom crawler, rough terrain and truck mounted cranes. It does not cover industrial/pick & carry cranes, boom trucks or telescopic boom crawler cranes, nor does it cover any types of static or semi-static cranes, such as tower or dockside cranes.

The crane types covered in this report are defined as follows:

ALL TERRAIN CRANES

All terrain cranes are designed to have the road-going mobility of a truck mounted crane as well as the ability to operate in rough terrain conditions. Featuring a truck chassis, they have similarities to truck-mounted cranes, but are differentiated by large tyres to provide ground clearance and off-road mobility, a multi-axle chassis and all-wheel drive and steering. All terrain cranes usually have two cabs – one for driving and one for lifting operations. They have also traditionally featured two engines, again, one to power the chassis and one for the lifting superstructure. However, some models now feature a single engine.

All terrain cranes are typically available in lifting capacities from 30-1,200 tonnes and are mounted on chassis featuring between 2-9 axles.

LATTICE BOOM CRAWLER CRANES

Crawler cranes are mounted on a tracked chassis and are traditionally fitted a boom constructed of a latticework of tubular steel members on a slewing upper structure. This is designed to maximize lifting capacity while minimizing self-weight. Lattice boom crawler cranes feature a single cab