ForConstructionPros.com

The key to any successful rental business is keeping the customer happy. That's no different when it comes to crane rental. And there's no quicker way for a customer to become dissatisfied than when he experiences downtime, so that's when a well-planned field-service program can make all the difference in the world to the success or failure of a crane rental business. Coincidentally, that often means small cranes will play a crucial role in servicing big cranes.

According to the Associated Equipment Distributors Rental 2006 Study, 68 percent of rental companies perform their own routine maintenance, and 65 percent do their own major repairs. Eighty-three percent of manufacturers that sell directly to rental companies expect that the rental house, not the dealership, will perform their own maintenance. These days, customers fully expect rental operations to do field repairs when equipment breaks down, so that means the remaining 32 percent of rental companies who don't are falling behind the curve.

Connelly Crane Rental Corp. is just one example of a company that has realized the value that field service brings to their customers. Connelly Crane has been a family owned and managed business since 1943, and they've used some form of field service since the beginning.

"The whole key to crane rental is response," says Mike Connelly, president of Connelly Crane. "When our customers rent the crane, they expect it to be running, and our field-service program helps make that happens for them."

Servicing cranes

Connelly Crane, which has grown to about 65 employees and is based in the Detroit area, acted on the recommendation of a fellow Michigan dealership, Wolverine Tractor and Equipment Company, and turned to Iowa Mold Tooling Co. Inc. (IMT) to help develop their field service program. Connelly has two IMT Dominator mechanics trucks, one they purchased used a while back and one they bought new only a few months ago. Meyer says their whole team of mechanics has been very pleased with the new Dominator I mechanics truck with a 3820 telescopic crane mounted to the truck body.