Keeping cranes operating efficiently is critical on any jobsite, and that’s where technicians like Matthew Dickenson, a field service engineer at MGX Equipment Services in the UK, play a vital role. With 13 years of experience in the crane industry, he has a keen eye for troubleshooting and the technical expertise to quickly identify and resolve issues for all crane brands.
Matthew focuses on diagnostics and troubleshooting, responding to calls, identifying issues, and maximizing uptime. By resolving complex technical challenges, the 35-year-old has built strong, long-term relationships with customers in Manchester, Liverpool, North Wales, and beyond.
“Building trust is key. The main thing is to make sure the customer knows we care and are there to help,” he says. “Customers call us because they need immediate support. I guide their engineers over the phone or go there myself. Even if it is something new or unfamiliar, I’ll keep digging until I find the answer.”
Matthew is part of the newly established MGX UK team, which launched in July to provide service, parts and customer support for multi-brand mobile crane owners, contractors and rental companies throughout the United Kingdom. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Manitowoc Company — one of the world’s largest producers of engineered lifting solutions — MGX UK draws on the Company’s extensive talent pool to help customers benefit from the highest levels of productivity.
With dedicated, full-service facilities in Buckingham and Barnsley, a fleet of service vans and extensive parts inventory, MGX UK is designed to help equipment customers keep equipment operating at peak performance while protecting its long-term value.
One of the most important keys to success in supporting cranes of all brands is ensuring that technicians have relevant experience with both older and newer systems. In recent years, there have been significant changes in crane technology; however, with the long working lives of cranes, it’s equally important to ensure technicians are well-versed in older systems. While older machines relied heavily on mechanical systems, where moving a lever triggers a physical response, modern cranes depend on advanced electronics and data-driven diagnostics. This shift requires a different approach to diagnostics and training.
“At MGX, our team of technicians regularly complete training and certifications, so we are ready to support customers when they need us the most,” he explains. “But training alone is not enough. Experience and teamwork are just as important. And we have a really strong team. You don’t just rely on yourself — you share ideas, ask questions, and work through things together.”
One of Matthew’s priorities is achieving a first-time fix wherever possible. To do that, each MGX service vehicle is stocked with a wide range of commonly used parts. When additional parts or expertise are required, Matthew works closely with colleagues across the broader service organization and at the OEMs to identify the best solution.
“Customers are always surprised when you’ve got the part in the van — but that’s what makes the difference,” Matthew says. “It’s impressive what we can do. And if we need to get the part from somewhere else, we make sure that’s done quickly too. You can have parts shipped overnight so the crane can be back up and running the next morning.”
Modern diagnostic technologies have been crucial in helping MGX technicians resolve issues. On Grove mobile cranes, for example, telematics systems such as Grove CONNECT™ provide remote access to crane data and performance history, enabling faster diagnostics and more efficient customer support.
“I received a call one night at 1:00 am to help a customer working inside a factory,” recalls Matthew. “We couldn’t use a video phone call to see the situation because of jobsite restrictions. So instead, I accessed the crane’s operating system via its telematics system and reviewed the issue, which I was able to resolve immediately – without needing to go to site.”
Matthew’s customer-focused approach reflects the broader mission of MGX UK: delivering expert support that helps crane owners maximize uptime and productivity.
The UK operation of MGX Equipment Services is its first European location. It builds on the success of MGX Equipment Services in the United States, where the company has long provided comprehensive equipment solutions including new and used equipment sales, crane rental, OEM parts and industry-leading repair and remanufacturing services.
For more information about MGX Equipment Services UK, visit here.
MGX Equipment Services is expanding its presence in Latin America with the opening of a new office and services in Peru. Located in Lima, the facility will support customers nationwide with a team of highly trained technicians specializing in multi-brand lifting and material handling equipment, including cranes, aerial work platforms, telehandlers and other heavy machinery.
MGX is a subsidiary of The Manitowoc Company, one of the world’s leading providers of engineered lifting solutions. Its expansion into Peru is part of Manitowoc’s broader strategy to grow its service capabilities in Latin America and reinforce its commitment to delivering high-quality service solutions to customers across the continent.
On-site technical support
The new Lima office will serve as a central hub for MGX’s field service operations, with a strong focus on delivering on-site technical support. This approach enables faster response times and greater flexibility for customers operating in remote and demanding environments. It is particularly valuable for industries such as mining and oil and gas, where transporting equipment off-site can be both costly and impractical.
The MGX team will provide comprehensive aftermarket services including major repairs, preventative maintenance, inspections, and technical training.
“Peru is a strategically important market for us, particularly given its strong mining sector, and we see increasing demand for reliable equipment support,” said Cristian A. Galaz, general manager for Manitowoc in Latin America. “By expanding our presence locally, we can bring experienced technicians closer to our customers, helping them maximize equipment uptime and operational efficiency.”
MGX’s field service technicians are experienced professionals trained in the latest equipment solutions and technologies. Many of them bring international experience, having trained at facilities across Europe, the U.S., and elsewhere.
The new Peru office complements MGX Equipment Services’ growing footprint in Latin America, including its recently established facility in Antofagasta, Chile.
To learn more about MGX Equipment Services Peru, click here.
MGX Equipment Services has opened its first office in Latin America, marking a significant milestone in its international expansion strategy. The Company will now be offering specialized technical support across the region.
Located in Antofagasta, northern Chile, the new facility is staffed by a team of experienced technicians specializing in lifting and material handling equipment from all brands — including cranes, mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs), and telehandlers. There’s a comprehensive parts stock on-site, as well as repair and maintenance services to support customers in Chile and throughout Latin America.
The location was selected strategically. Antofagasta is one of Latin America’s most vibrant mining hubs, with a high concentration of heavy machinery used in local operations along with a growing trend from customers for comprehensive service solutions. This trend is a response to the increasingly stringent standards required in mining environments.
“We offer a full range of services, from a team with high levels of experience and technical expertise,” says Cristian A. Galaz, general manager for Manitowoc in Latin America. “Customers will benefit from the high-quality service they’ll find at our facility, which is designed to provide repair and maintenance for their cranes and other load-lifting equipment, supported by our dedicated technicians at this center. This technical team joins the existing one in Chile and Latin America to provide on-site assistance — including major repairs — with the goal of maximizing equipment uptime.”
Comprehensive services
The new MGX facility integrates a workshop, parts warehouse, training spaces, and customer service areas in a single location. Specialized technicians provide preventive maintenance, corrective repairs, and selected overhauls. A fully stocked parts warehouse, supported by a global supplier network, enables faster response times and improved equipment availability.
“Our technicians have undergone extensive training in Latin America, the U.S., and Asia with leading global component manufacturers, enabling them to understand the complexities of the equipment and provide comprehensive service. Our goal is to ensure high-quality service,” Galaz says.
MGX is also offering a customer training program focused on equipment operation and maintenance. The facility features a simulator for Grove rough-terrain cranes and Manitowoc crawler cranes, providing operators and technicians with hands-on training to enhance safety and operational efficiency.
Expansion with a regional vision
In the U.S., MGX Equipment Services is a long-established provider of comprehensive equipment solutions, including new and used equipment sales, OEM parts and industry-leading repair and remanufacturing services.
The launch of its first facility in Latin America reflects the company’s broader international growth strategy, extending its proven capabilities to new markets while strengthening partnerships across the lifting and material handling equipment industry.
MGX Equipment Services is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Manitowoc Company, one of the world’s largest producers of engineered lifting solutions. The MGX Equipment Services Chile team is drawn from Manitowoc’s extensive talent pool, bringing together experienced professionals with strong local knowledge and a shared commitment to delivering high-quality service and support.
To learn more about MGX Equipment Services Chile, click here.
MGX Equipment Services has launched in the UK, offering comprehensive equipment support to crane owners, contractors, and rental companies nationwide. The Company will operate from full-service facilities in Buckingham and Barnsley, initially providing service, parts, and customer support for all mobile crane brands.
The launch of MGX Equipment Services in the UK marks the Company’s first entry into Europe. In the U.S., MGX Equipment Services is a long-established business, offering comprehensive equipment solutions including new and used equipment sales, crane rental, OEM parts and industry-leading repair and remanufacturing services.
“We want to be a one-stop shop for crane owners in the UK. Crane owners, contractors, and rental companies are often managing fleets with mixed crane brands, and organizing service, repair, and parts for multiple machines is an administrative burden. We are here to streamline the process, and provide fast, effective, and high-quality customer support,” said Nick Bird, service manager at MGX Equipment Services UK.
MGX Equipment Services is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Manitowoc Company, one of the world’s largest producers of engineered lifting solutions. The new UK team for MGX Equipment Services is drawn from Manitowoc’s extensive talent pool. There is a fleet of service vans to support customers, and an extensive stock of spare parts to ensure minimal downtime and faster issue resolution.
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A new four-lane, $463 million bridge opened to traffic connecting Maryland and Virginia over the Potomac River on October 12, 2022. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan cut the ribbon at a ceremony hosted by the Maryland Transportation Authority to inaugurate the new Nice-Middleton Bridge. MGX Equipment Services (MGX) representatives attended the event and highlighted the company’s role in supplying the event with cranes and bridge-building technical expertise.
“It is a historic day for the region as we announce the grand opening of the new Nice-Middleton Bridge — replacing an 82-year-old bridge with a state-of-the-art Potomac River crossing between Maryland and Virginia on budget and ahead of schedule,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan tweeted.
MGX’s involvement began in mid-2020 when the company assembled a Manitowoc 888 crawler crane onto a ringer. Experienced MGX technicians led the project’s lifting operations that at times grew to up to 17 cranes at work on barges at the site during 2021 and 2022.
“We became known as the team that never said ‘no,’” said John Boland, product support sales representative at MGX. “Our job was to keep the cranes running, and we did. Over the past three years, we had incredible support from the entire MGX team, and we were able to always make it happen. I’m truly proud of what we were able to accomplish.”
The new bridge replaces an existing 82-year-old, two-lane bridge, and it will be used by close to 18,000 vehicles daily, officials said. It’s expected to have a 100-year service life. The new span height enables tall ships to pass beneath its 135-foot clearance. The Skanska-Corman-McLean (SCM) Joint Venture led the construction and created 500 jobs.
“This monumental bridge underscores MGX’s capability in supporting high-profile, essential infrastructure projects across the country,” said Keith Poff, MGX’s vice president and general manager. “It was a fantastic experience for all of our team, and I wanted to congratulate everyone on this amazing career-defining feat.”
MGX Equipment Services (MGX) has expanded its coverage in the Rocky Mountains and Midwest regions.
MGX will boost its crane sales and service footprint in Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska, providing sales of new and used equipment, an extensive rental fleet, and aftermarket parts and service support. MGX will support the area from its Salt Lake City branch location.
“MGX is thrilled to expand into these three new states and bring our comprehensive set of lifting solutions to the area,” said Keith Poff, vice president and general manager at MGX. “This enables us to quickly and efficiently bring our expanded range of services to thousands of customers in the middle of the country.”
Leon Cornaby, sales and rental coordinator and branch manager at MGX Salt Lake City, added:
“Our offering extends to crane remanufacturing and providing operator training and certification, which will give customers in the region a more comprehensive support program around crane ownership and operation. Minutes matter when your machinery is unavailable, so whether customers are making use of our on-call 24/7 team of factory-trained technicians, or renting cranes from our diverse fleet, we will help support their productivity and profitability goals.”
With the support of leading Manitowoc dealer MGX Equipment Services (MGX), longtime Grove truck-mounted crane customer Coastal Crane Service (Coastal Crane) is continuing to diversify its fleet with National Crane’s larger boom trucks. The latest addition is the largest boom truck National Crane has to offer, the 60 USt NBT60XL.
Truck cranes have been a favorite at Coastal Crane ever since founder Jeff Whittington added a 30 t P&H crane to his forklift rental offering in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in 1972. However, now that large National models are increasingly incorporating truck crane-type features alongside their own specific engineering advances that improve lifting performance and maneuverability, they are proving extremely popular with Coastal Crane’s customers.
Charles Caughman, the third-generation owner of Coastal Crane, said that when his 60 t Grove truck crane reached retirement age in 2020, which coincided with the launch of the NBT60XL, he faced a tough decision regarding how best to fill that looming hole in his fleet.
Fortunately, MGX was on hand to provide impartial advice since the dealer sells both Grove and National Crane models. To help advise Caughman on his decision, the dealer arranged a visit to the Shady Grove, Pennsylvania, factory in mid-2021, where Caughman tested the NBT60XL and met its development team. Along with MGX, the National Crane team answered all of his questions to help him choose the crane that would best fit his lifting needs.
“The NBT60XL outperformed my expectations,” Caughman said. “We are now routinely setting 90,000-100,000 lbs concrete drainage boxes, so its load charts had the brawn and ability we needed. Since it’s on a Class 8 chassis, you also have a comfortable ride at highway speeds and the premium features and feel of a Peterbilt truck cab, like air-ride suspension and an automatic transmission.”
To enhance performance on congested streets, the National Crane Truck Mod Center installed Coastal’s boom truck onto a 2021 Peterbilt chassis, giving it a 260 in wheelbase for a shorter overall package.
“This gives us a much sharper turning radius and you don’t have as much boom overhang, so that makes it much more maneuverable,” Caughman said.
The 151 ft, five-section full power boom provides length that reduces the need to use its 36 ft optional swing-away jib, further optimizing picks in confined areas.
“Using a jib can be difficult with our jobs because we are swinging over parked cars and between hotels. In pure setup time, the longer boom saves us two hours of manual work,” Caughman added.
The NBT60XL purchase also included a full inspection and personalized training of operators by MGX personnel — a testament to the dealer’s priorities, said MGX Territory Manager Crockett Surratt.
“Helping a customer choose a crane is only the first step. Taking care of the crane and giving the customer the knowledge they need to best utilize it are the most important parts of what we do,” he said. “We have built a strong rapport on a bedrock of trust and accountability.”
“Customer communication is paramount,” Caughman agreed. “Whenever I call MGX, I reach a real person — or if they don’t immediately answer, they follow up, no matter if I am buying or crying!”
For full specifications on the NBT60XL, click here. To visit Coastal Crane’s website, click here. To visit MGX Equipment Services’ website, click here.
You don’t get to clock over 65 years of successfully renting machinery to the oil refinery, chemical plant and heavy construction industries of the Gulf Coast without displaying a firm commitment to reliability — and that’s precisely why Groves Equipment Rental has ordered 14 brand new Grove cranes.
By replacing its smaller, decade-old range of Grove RT540 to RT890 rough-terrain models with 14 Grove cranes including GRT8100, GRT8120, and GRT655 models, the Texas-based company is maintaining its long-standing tradition of continually upgrading its machines to provide one of the most up-to-date rental fleets in the industry. Additionally, this upsizing was carried out in response to both changes in customer demand and the increase in market confidence ahead of the anticipated upturn in infrastructure projects and energy sector work in 2022.
“The 90 t – 100 t rough terrains have become the backbone of our fleet — they’re a popular size with our customers, many of whom build or do maintenance work for petrochemical facilities,” explained Steve McReynolds, president of Groves Equipment Rental, which was founded by McReynolds’ grandfather in 1955. “We’ve had at least 25 Grove RT890s in our fleet over the years, and the GRT8100 is a significant evolution of that model. Our customers especially like the new Crane Control System (CCS). It’s very user-friendly and a lot easier for diagnostics.”
Common to all current Grove models, as well as Manitowoc and Potain-branded cranes, CCS features two full-color graphic displays for easier viewing of vital settings, with an armrest-mounted joystick and jog dial for more ergonomic navigation and data input. Intuitive and easy-to-use, the system reduces the amount of training required, enabling operators to switch between crane models with ease. For example, the boom configurator feature will suggest — and, if desired, enable — the most efficient settings for lifting a specified load using the sequenced, synchronized extension capability of the GRT8120’s seven-section, full-power MEGAFORMTM 37.2 ft – 197 ft telescopic boom.
“The GRTs’ boom lengths are a major selling point for us,” McReynolds said. “After we took delivery of our first GRT8120 in December 2020, we introduced it to our customers, and the extra reach has been a huge benefit to them for core plant maintenance — so much so that we’ve secured long-term contracts with them. At 197 ft tip height, it can execute high-reach lifts but still give you a lot of versatility at a competitive rental rate.”
Unique two-year standard warranty
Despite having a much more compact carrier footprint than the RT890, the GRT8100’s greater 43 ft of tip height — courtesy of its additional boom section — and extra 10 tons of maximum capacity is an exceptional improvement that has impressed customers. The new GRT range boasts a two-year standard bumper-to-bumper warranty, with the option to extend to five years. This is further proof of the quality enhancements engendered by The Manitowoc Way, and the extensive component validation performed in its Product Verification Center.
“The range has a sleeker look with a lower center of gravity for easier transport, and the folding jib system is simpler to use,” McReynolds said. “And here in the Gulf, where high temperatures coupled with long hours in the cab can really take it out of operators, the upgraded AC system in the new full-vision, 20° tilting cab is a game-changer.”
Having offered a wide range of heavy construction equipment since its founding in 1955, the name of this fourth-generation, family-owned firm relates to the location of its Groves, Texas, headquarters, approximately 90 miles east of Houston, in Jefferson County. It also operates out of Channelview (Houston) and Sulphur, Louisiana.
The company’s name is also a coincidental tie to its loyalty to the Grove crane brand. The McReynolds have been Grove customers since the 1970s, when they purchased the popular RT52 (later RT58B) models. Thanks to a strong partnership with the local dealer, MGX Equipment Services, its fleet of Grove cranes expanded rapidly during the 1990s, supporting its strong growth in the Gulf.
“I’ve been doing this just shy of 40 years so I’m old school,” McReynolds said. “I was raised in this industry and greatly appreciate having a designated dealer in my backyard. Dependable service is the equalizing force for us — it’s vital we have the latest equipment to give us the advantage over our competition.
We supply the cranes our customers prefer.”
To visit Groves Equipment Rental’s website, click here.