ACT 100 makes strong showing in 2025

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D.Ann Shiffler Editor, American Cranes & Transport

16 June 2025

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In 2025, the 20th anniversary ACT100 made gains in every category with the total index eclipsing 3.4 million tons.

The ACT Index has never been higher. Photo: Robert Dimmitt

America’s top crane-owning companies was a priority for American Cranes & Transport from the very beginning.

The idea for the ACT50 (and later the ACT100) was conceived when the magazine started with the launch issue in June 2005. In the July 2005 issue, ACT published the precursor to the ACT50, which was compiled using the North American companies from the IC50, the global crane top list from our sister magazine, International Cranes and Specialized Transport. Who do you think was first on that first list? If you guessed Maxim Crane Works, you were right.

The 2025 ACT100 added 302,266 tons of capacity for a record ACT index of 3,417,097. In 2024 the ACT Index was 3,114,831. In 2023, the ACT100 index grew 500,000 tons in capacity, erasing the retraction in the index in 2022. For comparison, the ACT100 index in 2023 was 3,080,314. In 2022, it was 2,552,592 and in 2021 it was 2,868,110. In 2020, the ACT100 index was 2,778,193.

Suffice it to say, the ACT100 index has settled firmly in the 3 million ton capacity range for two years straight.

Maxim Crane Works is still number one, reporting an index of 721,581, slightly down from its index of 732,241 in 2024. Maxim is not just the first company on the ACT100, but the first company by a far margin in excess of 400,000 tons.

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Changing places

In 2025, the top 10 experienced a true shake-up. While Maxim, Bigge and ALL Family of Companies kept their 1, 2, 3 ranks, Barnhart Crane & Rigging jumped up to 4 and Bay Crane Companies, a newcomer to the list, anchors the Number 5 spot. Barnhart jumped up in part due to its acquisition of NCSG Crane in Canada and other acquisitions. While Bigge remained at Number 2, the company also had a big jump in its fleet size and ACT100 index.

We have been trying to get Bay Crane Companies on the list for the past 19 years. Having Bay Crane on the list is a big win, giving the ACT100 further credibility.

Buckner HeavyLift, Marmon Crane Services, Lampson International, TNT Crane & Rigging and J.F. Lomma Inc. round out the top 10. Big gainers in the top 50 this year include Barnhart, Big B Crane, Davis Crane, Dozier Crane, Legacy Equipment and Mr. Crane.

In 2025, the number of branches grew from 814 to 828. The number of employees on the ACT100 grew from 42,281 to 42,590.

In 2025, the crawler count grew to 3,481, from 3,324 in 2024, a gain of 157 units. It’s our highest crawler count ever.

Mobile cranes counts grew 718 units in 2025 to 15,759, from 15,041 units in 2024. Last year the number of mobile cranes fell by nine units.

Beyond Bay Crane Companies, newcomers on the ACT100 include Crane Service Inc. at 29, CEX Crane & Lift at 40, BMS Heavy Cranes at 43, Borsheim Crane Service at 65, Continental Crane & Equipment Service at 72, Emerson Crane Rental at 92 and North Texas Crane Service at 95.

The largest crawler crane fleet in North America is owned by Maxim Crane Works with 400 crawler cranes. Bigge follows with 396 crawlers and Lampson with 393.

The ALL Family of Companies has the largest number of mobile cranes with 1,470 units. Maxim has 1,296 mobile units and Bigge has 1,122.

The largest crane on the ACT100 has changed for the first time in a while – Buckner HeavyLift Cranes acquired the HLCC LRC 7500 Ring Crane, which has a capacity of 7,500 tons.

The methodology

We sent surveys to close to 500 companies in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. While the ACT100 is much more comprehensive than it was when we started it 20 years ago, we realize there are probably 10 to 15 major crane-owning companies not represented. Some companies do not want to share information about their fleets, and we respect their decision.

This year we were 100 percent with the ACT100. There are two ties and two companies with an asterisk, shown as an estimate.

As stated previously, in the largest crane category, different capacities may be listed for the same machine. We rely on the information supplied to us in determining these capacities as rigging variables can change the capacity of the crane.

Because the vast majority of crane-owning companies are privately held, it can be difficult to obtain and verify figures, although we do approach independent industry sources for assistance and use related web resources and research when we use an estimate. Disclaimer

We rely on the integrity of the companies that participate, wholly assuming that the information they provide is accurate and truthful to the best of their knowledge.

We work to ensure the accuracy of the information provided but take no responsibility for errors or omissions. We will continue to work to make the ACT100 the most comprehensive list of crane-owning companies in North America.

Companies are ranked by their ACT100 Index, which is calculated by adding together the maximum lifting capacities in U.S. tons of all crawler cranes and mobile cranes in a company’s fleet.