Crane Spotlight
Boom Trucks
Right: Tadano America Corporation’ s Manitex TC series machines have a 40- to 65-ton selfleveling feature. The manufacturer’ s product line range includes boom trucks from 19 to 65 tons of capacity.
Below: Smiley Lifting Solutions offers a variety of non-CDL truck mounted cranes with capacities ranging from one to 15 tons and up to 102 feet of tip height.
Right: Scheduled for introduction in 2026 is an entirely new crane from QMC Cranes along with a pup trailer to add to the carrying capacity of their line of boom trucks.
structure heights aren’ t very tall, McGiboney added. The AC65E has more reach than the AC40E and more capacity than the AC45E. It is offered in full-counterweight and a federal bridge law compliant configurations. Randy Robertson, director, inside sales at Tadano America Corporation, related that the company’ s Manitex TC series machines have a 40- to 65-ton self-leveling feature. The manufacturer’ s product line range includes boom trucks from 19 to 65 tons of capacity.
Scheduled for a formal introduction in 2026, according to Craig Schumacher, technical sales representative, is an entirely new boom truck crane from QMC Cranes. The company has also designed a new pup trailer to add to the carrying capacity of their line of boom trucks.
“ We offer a variety of non-CDL truck mounted cranes with capacities ranging from one to 15 tons and up to 102 feet of tip height,” said George Schalk, VP sales at Smiley Lifting Solutions.“ We can also custom build a truck mounted crane to suit your needs.”
Market Outlook
Altec has seen increased demand in the utility transmission construction and maintenance markets, noted McGiboney.“ In those segments, the boom truck market is seeing high growth and increased sales volumes,”
he said.“ One of the reasons is because the market is used to machines mounted on vocational chassis.
“ The growth period we are in for the electrical grid is also driving up boom truck sales volumes,” McGiboney added.“ Transmission demand is high in response to historic load growth with the explosion of data centers to support AI, cloud computing services and other emerging technologies. On top of greenfield construction, most utilities have increased their spending on line voltage upgrades, storm hardening and fire hardening as ways to increase grid capacity and resiliency.”
Load King’ s Lukow said the boom truck market will be flat through 2025 because general construction is down while oil and utility transmission activity is up.
“ It is difficult to predict the upcoming boom truck market due to rising and uncertain truck pricing,” said Schalk.“ It also seems that the used crane market is stronger than the new crane market, which is likely due in part to increasing truck prices.”
For Schumacher, 2026 will be a big year for the boom truck market in general.“ Our quotation volume has been up 60 %
from 2024 but so far the high capital cost along with the tariff impacts have resulted in delayed sales,” he said.“ Another current factor is that customers are repairing fleets instead of replacing because of economic uncertainty.”
Robertson said boom truck growth will benefit from rising demand for high reach transmission line construction and maintenance machines.
“ We project boom truck demand to remain strong through 2026, driven by continued utility transmission construction, rental fleet replacements and steady activity in commercial construction,” said Glazer.“ Federal and state infrastructure funding, along with ongoing utility investment, is keeping project pipelines healthy across regions.
“ While financing costs remain a consideration, overall fleet confidence is solid,” Glazer continued.“ Dealers and fleet managers are focusing on total cost of ownership, reliability and lifecycle support, a good sign for manufacturers who deliver maximum uptime through robust parts availability, responsive service and comprehensive warranty programs.”
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December 2025 • www. cranehotline. com