Atlanta Access

A quick visit to this year's ARA Rental Show will pay dividends, with lots of new machines being introduced by the big name North American manufacturers, as well as an interesting selection of European and Japanese equipment that will be getting its first showing in the US.

Homegrown highlights will include JLG's new 1230ES vertical mast platform on show for the first time anywhere. As previously reported in ALH, this machine will go head to head with UpRight's popular TM12, with JLG claiming several important advantages over its rival, including cycle times. It will also, of course, be JLG's first big show under Oshkosh ownership.

Genie Industries – with new president Tim Ford possibly in attendance – will have the first sighting of the Z–40N, a narrow articulating boom offering 46 feet, 5 inch (14.1 m) working height and 22 feet, 8 inch (6.9 m) outreach. It will be less than 1.5 m wide and will weigh in at 15,230 pounds (6,900 kg).

Those expecting to see more versions of Skyjack's new telescopic boom line will be disappointed. The 40T and 45T models are now in production, but the larger 60/65 models will not be ready for the Rental Show.

Other North American exhibitors include Snorkel, MEC Aerial Platforms and Custom Equipment. Snorkel will show the 85 foot AB85RJ, one of two new articulated big booms being introduced by the company early this year. The other is the AB80J, without a fly boom. The launch of the two new machines further expands Snorkel's line.

MEC is launching its new 91 Series of RT scissors, and will show the 4191RT, with the 2591RT and 3391RT models to follow in the first quarter of 2007. The 4191 will have 47 foot working height and is 91 inches wide. At the other end of scissor spectrum is Custom Equipment, manufacturer of the lightweight Hy–Brid 1030 scissor. This 16–foot working height model is to be joined by a sister machine in Atlanta, possibly a 20–foot model.

Bil–Jax, meanwhile, uses the show to introduce another new trailer in its Summit range, the telescopic 2262T model.

European machines will be in Atlanta in greater numbers than ever before, with newly resurgent. UpRight (the powered access business is now owned by UK company Tanfield Group), Haulotte Group and Niftylift, among those attending.

Haulotte Group continues with its program of investment in North America. Some of that will be evident at the show, with the first showings in the US of its new big boom machines, the HB 135 JRT telescopic boom and the HA 130 JRT articulating model. Also interesting is the fact that Haulotte will introduce into the US for the first time Dino–Lift trailers. Haulotte already sells Dino trailers in its home French market, and will show three models, the DI 46 A, DI 53A and DI 63 A, with platform heights of 46, 53 and 63 feet.

Not evident in Atlanta will be Haulotte's investment in its North American sales and service operation. The company already has facilities in Baltimore, MD; Atlanta, GA; and Los Angeles, CA, and plans to open two more in Chicago, IL and Houston, TX before April this year.

Haulotte is also donating a 19 foot Optimum 1930 E electric scissor to the special auction on the first day of the show being held on behalf of the ARA Foundation, the body that funds educational and other programs for the rental industry.

The UK's Niftylift, already something of a veteran at the ARA show, introduces two machines new to the US: the SP34 4x4, a four–wheel drive version of the small, articulated SP34N; and the SP53 4x4, a heavy–duty four–wheel drive model with a 52 foot, 6 inch platform height and weighing less than 14,350 pounds. Niftylift says the machine's “compact physical dimensions mean that transportation to site is economical and maneuverability once on site is excellent.”

A famous name, UpRight Powered Access, returns to the ARA show under new ownership, and seemingly determined to make a big splash. The company, which celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2007, recently announced it will start manufacturing big booms and scissors in the US, and will use the Rental Show to promote its range of self–propelled machines.

UpRight will hold a customer prize drawing for a new Ford Shelby Cobra GT500 Mustang.

“UpRight is a legend reborn in the aerial lift industry, just as the Shelby Cobra marks the return of an automotive legend,” says Darren Kell, chief executive officer of UpRight. “We could not think of a more fitting prize to give away at UpRight's 60th birthday party.”

Making a debut at the Rental Show, meanwhile, will be two Hinowa “spider” type platforms. The Italian manufacturer is now being represented in North America by Reachmaster Inc., the dealer for the Worldlift Industries products that include the former E Falck Schmidt and Denka Lift brands. Two Hinowa machines will be shown, the LL46 and LL63, where the two digits represent working heights in feet.

The Rental Show will also see Aichi re–launch itself in the US business: the company will be importing both truck mounted platforms and the heavy duty crawler mounted telescopic booms that have an enviable reputation for reliability and durability.

If aerial platforms have been a traditional strength of the ARA show, there will also be a decent number of telehandler manufacturers attending, including Ingersoll Rand, Gehl, Mustang, Xtreme, Carelift, JCB and Manitou, in addition to the AWP suppliers like JLG, Genie, MEC and Haulotte who also sell handlers.