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Crane Carrier Company

Founded	1946; 78 years ago (1946)
Founder	Robert L Zeligson
Headquarters	New Philadelphia, Ohio, US
Products	cranes, trucks, wheeled loaders
Parent	Illinois Tool Works (2008-2013) Hines Corporation (2013-2019) Turnspire Capital Partners (2019-2021) Battle Motors (from 2021)
Website	cranecarrier.com

Crane Carrier Company (CCC) is a manufacturer that specializes in construction truck and garbage truck chassis. Located in New Philadelphia, Ohio, it was established by Robert Zeligson in 1946, along with the affiliated Zeligson Trucks. Since 2021, CCC has been owned by electric vehicle developer Battle Motors.

The primary design of CCC's trucks are Cab-Beside-Engine (CBE) or half-cabs, most notably the Century II Unimixer. Half-cabs have the advantage of being able to carry the booms of cranes, hence the name of the company.

History

CCC began as a firm that remanufactured World War II-era surplus vehicles for civilian crane-carrying use. In 1953 CCC presented their first own truck, and soon evolved into a company that manufactured over-the-road trucks for concrete mixing, logging, mining, and other construction industries, including a wheeled loader.

Though primarily building CBEs, CCC started moving toward the two-seater market during the 1970s, with models such as the Centaur. The Centurion is a series of low-entry trucks, primarily used for garbage collection. The Centurion has an engine mounted behind the cab and was also available with dual controls.

CCC manufactured Type D school bus chassis during the early to mid-1990s, which were used by bus manufacturers Carpenter Body Company and Wayne Corporation.

CCC sold Zeligson in 1980. It lasted as a separate company for nine years. In 2008, CCC and its parent, CCI Corp., were sold to Glenview, Illinois-based Illinois Tool Works, which stated its plans to continue operating CCC as a separate company.

CCC was acquired by Hines Corporation in June 2013 and the company’s headquarters was relocated to New Philadelphia, Ohio. Under Hines, a strategic merger was initiated to join CCC and Kimble Manufacturing forming Hines Specialty Vehicle Group – manufacturer of custom heavy-duty chassis and purpose built vehicles for the refuse and recycling, infrastructure maintenance, ground support, agriculture, oil and gas, and concrete mixer markets.

Crane Carrier Company (CCC) embarked on a new chapter by launching as an independent company in 2019. Headquartered in New Philadelphia, Ohio, CCC consists of two brands, Crane Carrier Company (truck chassis) and Crane Carrier Company Engineered Chassis. The Company was sold to Turnspire Capital Partners in 2019. Battle Motors a developer of electric vehicles, acquired Crane Carrier in April 2021.

Operations

In addition to over-the-road trucks and wheeled loaders, CCC also builds trucks for oil drilling, water well drilling, terminal tractors, and aviation fuelers. As with most American specialty truck manufacturers, the customer's choice of proprietary engines and transmissions have been available.

References

1. "Crane Carrier Company". Crane Carrier Company. Archived from the original on 2021-02-13. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
2. ^ Baldwin, Nick (1981). The Observer's Book of Commercial Vehicles (#40). London: Frederick Warne. ISBN 0-7232-1619-3.
3. Arnold, Kyle (2008-09-16). "Illinois company acquires Crane Carrier". Tulsa World. Archived from the original on 2012-04-03. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
4. ^ "Company History". Crane Carrier Company. Archived from the original on 2020-03-02. Retrieved 2020-02-03.
5. McNulty, John (2019-01-03). "Turnspire Buys Specialty Vehicle Group". Private Equity Professional. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
6. "Battle Motors Acquires Crane Carrier Company Launching Path to Class 7 and 8 Vocational Truck Electrification". PR Newswire (Press release). 2021-04-21. Retrieved 2021-04-21.

Additional Reading

• The Complete Book of Trucks & Tractors, by John Carroll & Peter Davies.
• American Truck & Bus Spotter's Guide; 1920–1985, by Tad Burness.

External links

• Martin Phippard Photograph (Hank's Truck Pictures)
• CCC (Internet Movie Cars Database)

v t e US military soft-skinned vehicles introduced after 1945
1⁄4–1⁄2 ton vehicles	M422 Mighty Mite Willys M274 "Mechanical Mule" Willys MC / M38 Willys MD / M38A1 M151 "MUTT"
3⁄4–13⁄4 ton vehicles	AM General HMMWV Ground Mobility Vehicle M1151 Chevrolet CUCV II Chevrolet LSSV Dodge M43 Dodge M880s CUCV Gama Goat General Dynamics Flyer 60 GM M1009 CUCV GM Defence ISV Kaiser Jeep M715 M1161 Growler HDT Storm SRTV
21⁄2–7 ton trucks	AM General M809 AM General M939 Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles Ford M656 General Dynamics Flyer 72 International M39 Oshkosh MTVR REO M35
8–16.5 ton trucks	Caterpillar M520 "Goer" Mack M125 Oshkosh HEMTT M1120 HEMTT LHS Oshkosh LVS Oshkosh LVSR Oshkosh PLS
Tank transporters	Mack M123 Oshkosh M911 Oshkosh M1070
Tractor trucks	AM General / Freightliner M915 AM General M931 / M932 CCC M920 MET I.H. M39 / M52 and M246
Tracked tractors & carriers	M8 high-speed tractor M76 Otter M116 Husky M973 SUSV
Specialist vehicles	Ranger Special Operations Vehicle Unimog 419
Amphibious vehicles	LARC-V LARC-XV LARC-LX "BARC"
All-terrain vehicles	John Deere M-Gator Polaris MRZR-(D)2
Military vehicles of the United States List of soft-skinned vehicles of the US military

• Construction equipment manufacturers of the United States
• Truck manufacturers of the United States
• Manufacturing companies based in Oklahoma
• Companies based in Tulsa, Oklahoma
• American companies established in 1946
• Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1946
• 1946 establishments in Oklahoma