Our History
About Who We Are and What We Do
After working in the crane, bucket truck, and digger derrick rental business for about a decade, Jay Sturm recognized a huge shortcoming in the construction and industrial industry. Handling accident investigations while also meeting customer needs in the equipment rental business could be a real juggling act. At one point, Jay was faced with a particularly nasty OSHA compliance officer, but later this same officer befriended Jay and suggested that he should consider safety consulting as a business. Jay was thus inspired to think about the needs of the people he was working for.
Jay had noticed that safety concerns were a growing concern for business owners and employees alike. Business owners also had to consider liability issues with their businesses, which can become discouraging in terms of time and cost. So to better service the business community, Jay devised convenient, cost-effective and concise programs to make businesses safer when it came to their heavy equipment. But he had to do all this without money, a daunting task.
Thus, from very humble beginnings, in September 2001, Cranes Aerial Truck Service was born in the basement of the Sturm family home at 19 Barry Dr. Ashland, MA. Jay set a precedent to make customer service the foundation of his business, offering on-site inspections with a one day report turnaround and a no holds barred convenient scheduling policy to make his customers’ jobs as easy as possible. The business grew steadily.
With the help of the Sturm family, Cranes Aerial Truck Service grew to the point where it could no longer operate out of the basement, and Jay made his daughter, Jenn, a full time employee working at the new 450 square foot office located at 30 Main St. Ashland, MA. Jenn had been working with Jay since she was in high school.
It was then during the year spent at 30 Main St. that Cranes Safety Institute was conceived and dedicated to offering safety training for the construction and industrial industries.
Around this same time, Jay started attending ASME crane safety standards committee meetings. His rationale for attending these meetings was that he would be at the forefront of policy changes in the industry, enabling him to keep his customers current about any changes in the safety standards.
In relatively short order, Jay was elected onto the ASME crane safety standards committee. Now Jay has the ability to give back to the community which is one of his pet desires. It also gives him a special kinship with other leaders in the safety community from manufacturers, insurance companies, consultants and crane users alike.
Once the first year was completed at 30 Main St. Ashland, MA Cranes Aerial Truck Service and Cranes Safety Institute needed more room, specifically a classroom.
Moving over next door to 10 Main St. Ashland, MA provided Cranes with a 1,500 square foot facility that included a dedicated classroom. It was at this time that Cranes hired a full time trainer and additional office personnel.
Another year went by and Crane Safety Institute needed more room again, especially more parking, Cranes Aerial Truck Service also continued to grow so the need to move was dire.
Jay’s mission was to overbuy a piece of property, so that they wouldn’t need to move again. He found the property at 57 Mendon St. in Bellingham, MA. The property was much more than they needed at the time, and Jay saw that as assurance in the prospect of not having to move anytime soon.
Moving into just one of the 4 buildings on the property gave Cranes 1,800 square feet of office and training room space but more importantly….parking.
Over the years spent at 57 Mendon St. Bellingham, Cranes Aerial Truck Service has moved into the C building, giving them 5,200 square feet of office space and plenty of room for the massive equipment arsenal they have accumulated over the years of expansion.
The offices of Cranes101, formerly Cranes Safety Institute, now occupy the 1,800 square foot A building, which was renovated to provide the ultimate in comfort for the staff. The newest addition to the companies, Cranes101Online, is also located in the A building.
Cranes 101 also occupies the B building, which originally housed the offices for all the companies. The B building now is used for the training room and the testing center.
The Cranes companies have grown from very humble beginnings to a major force in the safety industry, servicing American companies from coast to coast and outside the United States to Greenland, The Netherlands, Canada, Africa, Dominican Republic and St. Croix.
Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau!