A history of IC100 and ACT100 rankings

In 1995, International Cranes magazine published the first IC50, a ranking of the world’s largest crane-owning companies. The magazine’s name was changed to International Cranes and Specialized Transport in 2004, when it became the official publication of the Specialized Carriers and Rigging Association.

Today, the top lists produced by International Cranes and Specialized Transport and American Cranes & Transport are legendary. The lists are now in their 27th and 17th years, respectively.

“Something we are particularly proud of are the pioneering IC top lists, led by the IC50 ranking of the world’s largest crane companies,” said Alex Dahm, editor of ICST, in his column in the October 2017 issue, which marked the 25th anniversary of the magazine.

“The IC50, since renamed IC100, was the first of its kind. Its development has charted major change among the world’s top crane owners and includes an element of sporting rivalry between contenders with the greatest capability which generates anticipation each year prior to publication. We have expanded the concept with separate lists covering tower cranes and specialized transport equipment.”

ICST sister magazine American Cranes & Transport published its first issue in June 2005. ACT published the first ACT50 and Transport50 top lists that same year. The ACT50 was renamed the ACT100 in 2009. ACT also produces the TowerCrane50 and the SpecializedLifting50.

Today, the top lists produced by ICST and ACT are legendary. The lists are now in their 27th and 17th years, respectively. And pretty much everyone wants to be on these lists. (A few companies choose not to participate for privacy reasons.) But for the most part, crane, transport and rigging companies can’t wait to get the survey forms each year and are excited to see how they rank each year.

How are each top lists ranked?

Rankings often provide bragging rights, and these companies often use their ranking as a marketing tool.

The rankings for the two magazines lists are a bit different, due to their nature of ICST covering the world and ACT covering North America. While the ranking criteria is very similar, the main difference is that ICST’s IC100 ranking uses the total maximum load moment, in tonne-metres, of all the cranes in a company’s fleet, while ACT’s use total capacity in U.S. tons. Most companies want to be on both lists.

It’s all about prestige and status. We don’t sell our lists, and the data we gather is provided exclusively to our readership. And we’ve created one of the leading benchmarks for the crane and transport industry ever compiled.

“ICST and ACT are no longer just magazines,” Dahm said. “We are the world’s largest supplier of information for this industry, whether that be in print, digital, data, market research or face-to-face,” Dahm said. “Whichever way the industry wants to receive its information, we provide it. The magazines are now very much part of the industry rather than just a supplier.”

ICST and ACT are published by KHL Group, a diversified media company and the leading global supplier of international construction and power information with offices in eleven countries around the world.