Imperial Attends Liebherr Customer Open Days 2012

Larry Eckardt, vice president of operations at Imperial Crane, attended Liebherr’s Customer Open Days at the Liebherr-Werk Ehingen factory in Germany on June 13 and 14.  The event brought over 3,000 people around the world to view their equipment, production facility and newest cranes.

All of Liebherr’s mobile cranes were displayed.

We have had a positive relationship with Liebherr since 2001, currently owning 12 of their all-terrain cranes.  Eckardt played a substantial role in our recent purchase of the 600-ton Liebherr LTM 1500-8.1.  Feeling that the logical progression was a larger, high capacity all-terrain for our petrochemical work, he collaborated with Liebherr on finding the best crane with the right options for our fleet.  Their knowledgeable staff and reliable service made the process an easy one.  His positive experiences with the company made him optimistic about the trip but unsure as to what to expect.

Imperial’s 600-ton LTM 1500-8.1 located at our headquarters in the Chicagoland area.

Georg Diesch, president of Liebherr Crane, Inc., hosted the trip for Eckart and 35 others from the United States.  Together they traveled in Germany and Austria ending their trip at the themed “Keeping the Balance” event.  They were taken to the Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany followed by a bus trip to Austria to stay for two days in the extremely impressive five-star Interalpen-Hotel Tyrol, built by the founder of Liebherr.  After two beautiful days in hotel located in the mountains they headed off to Ulm, Germany near the Liebherr factory for 2012 Customer Open Days.

Front view of the Interalpen-Hotel Tyrol.

The site, covering around 840,000 square meters and employing 2,800 people, is the world’s largest production facility for all-terrain mobile cranes.  Eckardt was impressed by its size but most importantly its efficiency.

“The factory was immense, holding huge amounts of inventory.  What sets Liebherr apart from the competition is how rapidly they are building equipment, not only for specific orders but just to have available.  Their confidence in crane sales allows them to have equipment ready to go and deliver on demand.”

Fitting the theme of the event “Maintaining Equilibrium”.

Part of the inventory included the unveiling of the LTM 1220 telescopic crawler and LTM 1750-9.1 all-terrain crane.  The LTR 1220 combines the advantages of a telescopic crane with those of a crawler crane, outdistancing the telescopic crawler cranes offered by competitors, both with regard to load capacity as well as boom length. The LTM 1750-9.1 mobile crane complements the Liebherr range between the highly successful models LTM 1500-8.1 and LTM 11200-9.1. One particular feature of the new nine-axle machine is the fact that the complete telescopic boom can be carried when travelling on public roads.

Larry Eckhardt, vice president of operations at Imperial Crane, stands in front of the LTM 1750-9.1 featured at Customer Days.

In addition to the large amount of inventory and new equipment, Eckardt saw firsthand the extensive testing their equipment must pass.  They are constantly looking for new ways to test the components and complete cranes.  The equipment is put through 17 state-of-art tests, from noise and vibration testing to wind simulation at every configuration.

Model cranes.

Already pleased with Leibherr, Eckardt walked away even more impressed then he had expected with a renewed confidence in the quality of the equipment and appreciation for the dedicated work being done at the facility.

Attitude of Gratitude at the MDA Summer Camp

Imperial’s owner, B.J. Bohne, and two staff members were given the opportunity to see firsthand the results of their support to the Muscular Dystrophy Association while attending a VIP carnival day at the MDA Summer Camp on June 20.

Imperial donated $8,000 for the summer camp at the 2011 CITGO Lemont, Ill. refinery’s “Driving for a Cure” golf tournament.  The cost covered 10 children and their one-on-one counselors for the week.

Over 60 campers, ages 6 to 17, attended the weeklong camp in Ingelside, Ill. There, kids with neuromuscular diseases are given the opportunity to discover a world created specifically for them, while meeting others who share the same needs and experiences.

Meghan Mahoney, marketing and communications coordinator at Imperial, is on the steering committee for the MDA’s annual Muscle Team event held in the fall at Soldier Field.  She speaks of her summer camp experience, “I am grateful to have seen the outcome of our fundraising and how much the children loved the camp.   The kids were completely carefree, all joining in on games of pie-eating contests, water-balloon throws and cookie-decorating stations.  It was clearly a memorable week for the children, MDA staff and camp volunteers.”

Campers enjoy a pie-eating contest at the MDA Summer Camp on June 20, 2012 in Ingelside, Ill.

Imperial’s New Video and Podcast with BMO Harris!

We recently worked with BMO Harris Bank on a video and a podcast about our history, growth and lending relationship with BMO.  We think it turned out great; let us know what you think!  https://resourcecenter.bmoharris.com/content/imperial-crane-0

Imperial Opens New St. Louis Office

We have opened our fourth office located in Roxanne, Illinois positioning us to break into the St. Louis crane market.  Our long-term goals are to expand the organization throughout the United States, placing us in a position to grow both daily rentals and large, long-term projects.

Our near St. Louis location was ideal because of the opportunities available for both large, long-term projects and daily rentals.  It’s proximity to plants like ConocoPhillips in Wood River, Illinois was a major factor in choosing the location.

We have extensive experience in refinery turnaround and maintenance work including starting a similar yard in Borger, Texas designed to service the ConcoPhillips Refinery in the area.  In addition our work at ConocoPhillips in Borger, Texas, we are the preferred vendor for BP’s Whiting Refinery Moderation Project at BP’s second-largest refinery’s in Whiting, Indiana and have been in Lemont, Illinois CITGO refinery for over 30 years.

When opening the St. Louis location we strategically hired Larry Leuchtmann to run the new office and grow daily rentals in the area.  Leuchtmann’s over 30 years experience in the St. Louis crane rental industry was ideal for their expansion.  He has successfully used his relationships to steadily grow Imperial’s name and brand.  This year through his contacts with Concrete Strategies we have completed crane work in Missouri University’s Power Plant; Southwestern, Illinois College of Liberal Arts; and Lidenwood University.

To keep up with our growth and expansion we have purchased a multimillion dollar package of crawlers, Tadano rough-terrains cranes, a 600 ton Liebherr and Elliott boom truck products, all arriving in 2012.

Larry Leuchtmann, St. Louis Branch Manager, stands in front of our 600-ton Liebherr.

 

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Imperial Crane’s Northwest Indiana office was hired by Arctic Engineering to remove and replace 10 air handlers at the Genesis Convention Center in Gary, Indiana.

Imperial Crane Grows Fleet with New Elliott 50105R BoomTruck

As the Midwest dealer of Elliott Equipment Company boom trucks, we purchased a new Elliott 50105R BoomTruck for our fleet.  The unit features a 50-ton lifting capacity at 10 feet with 105 feet of powered main boom and a two-piece 32 foot – 49 foot telescopic lifting jib that swings into place to reach a tip height of 164 feet. As a dealer, we value having Elliott inventory on hand for both rental and sales.

The 50105R complimented our current fleet by filling a gap in daily rentals, placing us in a great position to fill the 50-ton market.  The 50-ton boom truck performs like a truck crane but with higher mobility while being more cost effective in the long run due to the use of a commercial truck chassis.

We have committed more focus to our equipment sales division, growing our staff by taking on Director of Sales, Darren Montalto.  Montalto is gearing up for Imperial’s future plans with Elliott, “We plan to grow the boom truck division in conjunction with our rental department, capitalizing on renting while selling.  We feel this is the best case scenario in our industry.  Currently, we have a wish list of five new Elliott pieces to purchase in 2013.”

We chose to be a dealer for Elliott because of Elliott’s focus on custom manufacturing and engineering.  The ability to choose from a wide range of options allows us to provide boom trucks that are specifically built for our customer’s businesses.   Elliott can provide a custom chassis layout, specialized bumpers, and dozens of other unique design features to meet customer demands.

Following are standard features and benefits of the 50105R:

• Available 360 degree chart without front stabilizer
• Air conditioning and heating in crane cab
• Glide swing operation for smooth and precise rotation
• 32-49 foot two piece lifting jib
• Friction Free TM jib extension for easy jib deployment and stowage
• Hirschmann iVisor Mentor Load Moment Indicator (LMI) system for safe boom operation
• Available Work Area Definition System (WADS)
• Aerial workplatforms and accessories to best fit the unit to the user’s application and provide a two-in-one solution.
• 12-month parts and labor warranty, lifetime structural warranty
• Operator amenities including cup holders and 12-volt cell phone charger

Our Customer’s Words

Here is what our customers have said about us. Can we add you to this list?

Mike Leamanczyk, Chief Underwriting Officer, National Builders Insurance Co. “We have underwritten literally thousands of crane accounts since 1996 and rarely do we see this type of favorable loss experience, particularly with the scope of Imperial projects that include refineries as well as tough City of Chicago projects.”

Jim Anderson, Construction Manager, ConocoPhillips “Imperial’s performance and safety is that of the highest quality. They have done several projects for us while always maintaining a safety first attitude with a staff that is some of the most professional in their field. We continue to welcome all opportunities to have them as part of the team.”

Tim Smaron, Project Manager, Walsh Construction “Imperial’s competitive prices were within our budget, but equally as important are the level of qualified operators, equipment and management team they offer.”

Wes Zimmerman, Rigging Superintendent, Fluor  “Imperial Crane has the key components for reaching deadlines and budgets.  They have a professional staff that provides impeccable, timely service and a large fleet of reliable updated equipment.”