News / US heavy-haul and project logistics operators set for a big lift in 2024

Photo: Barnhart Crane & Rigging

While many US logistics firms have started 2024 cautiously, Barnhart Crane & Rigging has kicked off the year with a vengeance.

The heavy-haul and rigging services provider had announced its second acquisition of the new year by the end of January, the takeover of Mississippi-based Baxter Crane & Rigging.

Earlier in the month it reached agreement to acquire South Carolina-based White Crane.

Barnhart is expanding at a blistering pace. Last year, it bought Bollmeier Crane, Armstrong Crane & Rigging and Taylor Crane Rental.

And it is not growing alone in the sector. In November, heavylift specialist Omega Morgan signed a deal to take over Canada’s Donald Rigging, which specialises in the energy sector, its third takeover in 2023 after California-based Walker Brothers Machinery Moving and Intermountain Rigging and Heavy Haul, of Salt Lake City.

Unlike their counterparts in the general cargo segment, project forwarders and heavyhaul specialists went through 2023 propelled by solid demand from most verticals.

The power sector has been particularly strong. Washington’s drive to shift energy to environmentally friendly sources of power has created a boom in demand for transformers. This has been amplified by a proliferation of work to replace ageing electricity infrastructure. As a result, transformers have been in tight supply – but not to the point of derailing projects, logistics providers reported.

On top of this, the rise in nearshoring moves, partly driven by government initiatives to build up semiconductor, battery and pharmaceutical production in the US, is adding to the rampant demand for electricity.

According to a report from the Solar Energy Industries Association, the US solar industry was on course last year to add 32 gigawatts (GW) of production capacity, an increase of 53% over 2022. The report’s authors predict US capacity will rise from 153 GW last year to 375 GW by 2028.

In some respects, growing domestic production has cooled demand for lengthy project moves. As more wind and solar installations are using components made in North America, there is less need to import nacelles, wind towers and blades and move them inland on heavy trucking equipment or rail.

Onshore wind generation infrastructure slowed somewhat last year, as manufacturers worked their way through projects signed when interest rates had been significantly lower, but lately they have reported a return to profitability, which is expected to boost output.

Meanwhile, the push for offshore wind is expected to accelerate this year, following the green light from the federal government last year for the‘Ocean Wind 1 project, off Atlantic City.

Solid offshore wind development off the west coast is still some time away, but planning has ramped up as more players jockey for position. The port of Long Beach threw its hat in the ring last year with its ambitious plan to turn part of its land into an assembly point for wind energy structures before they get towed out to offshore wind farms.

On top of these developments, logistics providers expect a plethora of new projects, spawned or fuelled by Washington’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill signed into law in late 2021.

So there should be no shortage in demand this year, but equipment and manpower availability could be tight, although forwarders do not expect serious disruption from this.