Founded in 1985, TNT Crane & Rigging Inc. -- one of the largest operations and maintenance crane service providers in North America -- is celebrating its 35th anniversary of providing innovative lifting services to customers across diverse industries. The TNT family of companies is composed of six regional brands that all operate under the TNT umbrella: TNT Crane & Rigging Inc., Southway Crane & Rigging, Eagle West Cranes, Stampede Crane & Rigging, RMS Cranes, and Allison Crane & Rigging LLC. Customers are served 24/7 from 42 branch locations throughout North America, including in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Colorado, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, western Canada and the Southeastern Atlantic Seaboard.
TNT started in Houston with a single 18-ton crane and a handful of employees. Today, the company operates a modern fleet of more than 700 hydraulic truck, all-terrain and crawler cranes ranging in lifting capacity from 1 ton to 900 tons, as well as a fleet of tower cranes. TNT has a comprehensive portfolio of specialty lifting equipment, including gantry jacks, cantilever beams, forklifts and rigging equipment.
The foundation of TNT's business is its workforce of 1,400 employees who work diligently every day to deliver safe, comprehensive solutions that exceed customer expectations. All TNT crane operators are certified through the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators as well as a comprehensive in-house progressive development training program. TNT riggers are certified through NCCER. Field personnel are trained to meet site-specific requirements and are skilled, experienced craftsmen. Continuing education focused on safety, certification requirements and operational excellence is a key component of TNT's safety and training plans.
The combination of certified, trained craftsmen and equipment provides a high level of flexibility to deliver solutions safely and efficiently. The motto "Lifting America to a Higher Standard" is representative of TNT's goal: to be "the benchmark by which others are judged in the heavy lift and transport industry."
Over the years, TNT has grown and differentiated itself from other crane companies. Here are a few examples of how the company has accomplished this:
Incident and injury-free culture
In 2014, TNT partnered with JMJ Associates to help implement the "Incident and Injury-Free® (IIF) Safety Approach," which challenges the status quo and helps companies create change in people, processes, culture and organizations. The IIF Safety Approach challenges the notion that incidents and injuries are simply a "part of the job." Now well into the IIF journey established throughout the company, TNT places the highest value on its employees and their families, as evidenced by the company's vision statement.
TNT's commitment to safety and the IIF culture has resulted in frequent industry recognition. The company has been recognized as an OSHA Strategic Partner since 2015 and has received numerous safety awards over the years, including the Crane & Rigging Group Safety Award from the Specialized Carriers and Rigging Association, an international trade association of more than 1,400 members from 46 nations, including those involved in crane and rigging operations. Many customers have also recognized the company with their own safety awards, including Exxon, Dow and LyondellBasell. ABC has honored TNT with Platinum and Diamond STEP Awards. Since 2011, TNT has been named the "Best of the Best -- Crane & Rigging" four times at the annual Houston Safety Excellence Awards hosted by the Houston Business Roundtable and Houston Area Safety Council. These prestigious awards are presented annually to recognize contractors and subcontractors working in the Texas Gulf Coast area that demonstrate exemplary safety culture and performance.
Expansion and experience
TNT has grown from one branch in 1985 to 42 branches today. The company has not only expanded its geographic footprint but also its end-market experience and fleet composition. Growth has come through both acquisition and greenfield expansion, beginning in 1999 with the opening of a greenfield branch in Corpus Christi, Texas, followed by a branch in San Antonio soon after. Over the next several years, acquisitions in this region cemented TNT's position supporting the oil and gas and hydrocarbon processing industries in South Texas. By mid-2012, TNT had expanded into North Texas and Oklahoma, supporting commercial, wind, oil and gas, and mining operations throughout the region. A merger with RTL in south Louisiana expanded support to the industrial markets along the Gulf Coast from South Texas to Mississippi.
In 2012, the acquisition of Southway Crane & Rigging opened TNT to power, industrial, infrastructure, telecom, and pulp and paper markets in Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Northern Florida. Southway later added a greenfield branch in Birmingham, Alabama.
TNT completed its first international venture into western Canada in 2014 with the acquisition of Stampede Crane & Rigging Inc. and Eagle West Crane & Rigging, serving the energy, power, infrastructure, construction and commercial end-markets in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan.
The addition of RMS Cranes further expanded TNT's contiguous geographic coverage into the Rocky Mountains and brought further end-market exposure into the wind and commercial markets, as well as tower cranes into the fleet composition. RMS has recently added a branch in Casper, Wyoming, to support hydrocarbon processing and oil and gas markets in the region.
In 2018, TNT merged with Allison Crane & Rigging, a full-service mobile crane provider that serves the Utica and Marcellus Basins from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and the Permian Basin from Pecos, Texas.
TNT's nationwide footprint and company culture allow it to cross-utilize equipment and manpower between branches as needed to support demand. Customers benefit from a diversified fleet and the combined experience and expertise to execute larger, more complex projects.
Knowledge and expertise
TNT offers a full spectrum of crane and rigging lifting services for multiple end-markets, including the refining, petrochemical, oil and gas, midstream, power generation, industrial, infrastructure and commercial sectors.
The company's scope of work includes:
⢠Recurring and routine industrial facility maintenance.
⢠Partial and full plant large-scale turnaround projects.
⢠Industrial and commercial capital projects, including modular component installation.
⢠Erection, fabrication and construction projects.
⢠Commercial machinery and equipment installation, including HVAC and telecom units.
⢠E&P activities, including well completion and production.
⢠Midstream projects, including compressor installation and gas plant construction.
⢠Wind farm construction and maintenance.
⢠Power generation and transmission construction and maintenance support.
⢠Equipment maintenance in mines and rock quarries.
⢠Infrastructure and telecom construction and maintenance.
TNT has extensive turnaround experience, often performing multiple large-capacity turnarounds and projects simultaneously and typically having 100 or more cranes working double shifts along the Gulf Coast during turnaround season.
TNT also has a dedicated Specialty Lifting Services team for projects that have overhead constraints, such as heat exchangers, condensers or small vessels enclosed in structural steel. The company operates a fleet of hydraulic gantries with a lifting capacity from 40 tons to 1,220 tons and a maximum lifting height of 40 feet. It also inventories a wide range of accessories, including specialty forklifts, header beams, skid tracks, slide-shift systems and lifting lugs. In 2014, TNT introduced two cantilever beams to its specialty rigging operations. These custom-designed systems have been utilized in several unique projects that required an innovative approach to the lifting process. The bars contain several safety features, including automated braking systems and wireless control.
Through its culture, expansion and experience, TNT continues to show its customers how it's "Lifting America to a Higher Standard."
For more information, visit www.tntcrane.com or call (713) 644-6113.
