The benchmark

Starting from scratch, the editors at American Cranes & Transport Magazine have worked to create a benchmark in presenting the first ACT transport 50. The goal was to produce a credible listing of North America's largest transport companies, although we remain short of acquiring data on a full 50 companies. However, we are pleased with the results and think the information in this first effort is useful, interesting and as conclusive as possible under the circumstances.

As this is a first effort, next time there may be changes to what information is included and the way the data is culled and ranked. That said, we have gone the extra mile to rank the companies in this listing in two ways - by total maximum transport capacity by weight of all relevant equipment in a company's fleet and also by fleet size. The ranking is based on information supplied by the companies listed. While we have worked to produce the most accurate ranking possible, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information supplied. In some cases, these companies reported that their figures are estimates. Also note that our number one company, Fagioli, reported data from their worldwide operation, while the rest of the companies with worldwide operations only reported data for their North American operations. As with the ACT50 listing of the world's largest crane-owning companies, the idea is that with each successive edition, the list is improved, largely thanks to input from readers. Comments and suggestions are encouraged.

The heavy transport market has two main segments: heavy and specialized transport by road; and - where often higher loads are involved - heavy transport on jobsites, which reflects in the total tonnage and forms the basis for our list.

It also should be noted that some companies in the list offer services in the heavy load movement sector that are not in the rubber tired trailer or transport category. Such is the case for Lampson International, which has a substantial fleet of crawler transporters. In the future, we may consider including additional classifications of ranking specialized and heavy transport capacities, and it is just one example of possible ways to improve and expand the list with additional worth while information. In addition, there are many other companies that provide specialized transport via waterways. For instance, Bellville Rodair International offers specialized multi-modal transport around the world. We are assessing ways to add these companies to our listing or to create separate listings for these types of services.

Your comments and suggestions on ways to improve the ACT transport 50 and any other aspect of the magazine are welcome. While there is room to expand and improve the ACT transport 50, we try hard to get as many replies as possible by encouraging hundreds of potentially relevant companies to fill out and return the application form. This year we mailed forms to more than 700 companies. That said, while we have managed to bring our list to a total of 40 companies, we realize our work is not complete. With the help of readers and those companies that did not respond to our call for information, we can expand and improve the list again next year.