With the company tag line of “Our business is picking up,” Mobile Crane Services Inc. has a built-in positive outlook. Since 1972, the Pharr company has done much of the region’s heavy lifting, deftly swinging highway overpass beams, derailed train cars and oil field compressors into place.

“Back in early ‘70s, there just wasn’t any crane service in the Valley to speak of,” Jimmy Shawn recalled. He had an old truck with a pole crane on it and frequently used it to hoist commercial air conditioning units onto roofs for a McAllen company. “Five of us put several hundred each into a pot and thought we’d buy one crane and run it for a few years. We got into it at the right time, because about six months later we had to buy a second crane.”

In fact, Mobile Crane’s business grew so much in the first 10 years that the two managing partners, Shawn and his brother-in-law Edward Ramirez, sold their pump and truck repair businesses. The other partners concentrated on their air conditioning company, which continued to need large units installed on rooftops.

Although Mobile Crane stayed busy servicing an oil field boom west of Rio Grande City for 19 years, the company began expanding into the transportation sector. They worked on overpasses and bridges and removed concrete barriers on highways. They righted overturned tractor-trailers and derailed railroad cars. When power plants needed new massive transformers unloaded, Mobile Crane was there.

Crane crews have hoisted manufacturing plant equipment being exported to Mexico and moved large storage tanks at the Port of Harlingen. Mobile Crane’s equipment can even reach the top of McAllen’s Chase Bank building easily. “Our biggest crane is a 350-tonner, the largest in the area,” Shawn said. “It goes up 300 feet with big outriggers to stabilize it.”

“We go out, scope the job, and find out what kind of machine it’s going to take. It’s never boring,” Shawn said. He identified himself as the pencil pusher of the business, while Ramirez oversees equipment and the shop. “What I like about the business is that every day is something different since we service different markets.” He added their work at Eagle Ford Shale has slowed down. “It’s nothing like it was a year or two ago. But we’ve been weathering this downturn pretty well because everything is bought and paid for. We can sleep at night.”

The company now operates 10 hydraulic truck cranes with support vehicles and rigging. “To keep all the cranes and trucks working and safe takes a lot of effort. It’s a constant battle, safety, but we have a good program,” said Shawn.

In Mobile Crane’s safety training building, safety coordinator Art Garcia talked about the business of picking up very heavy, unwieldy objects. “This is a very high risk business. The good thing about it is you can control the risk. Safety is the utmost importance. Our safety program works because Jimmy and Edward believe in it and support it 100%.”

Beyond formal safety and review sessions, each day on the job begins with employees at a tailgating session. Officially, the on-site meeting is called a job safety analysis, which reviews the equipment being used and then the specifics of the day’s work. Among the items covered will be the obstructions and dangers that might be encountered, the priorities of each employee, and additional information if a man-basket is to be used or if power lines are nearby.

To read more on this story by Eileen Mattei, pick up a copy of the December print edition of Valley Business Report or visit the “Current & Past Issues” link on this website.