Firm Brings Expert Crane Services to Jersey Contractors

Fri May 19, 2006
Crane Equipment Guide

In 2001, when Joseph M. Sanzari Inc. was starting work on the Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital at Hackensack University Medical Center, Sanzari wanted to have his own cranes doing the work. He turned to his friend Tim Shinn, the owner and president of Kenilworth, NJ-based United Crane Rentals Inc., and together they formed Hackensack, NJ-based Sanzari-Shinn.

Today, Sanzari-Shinn, which now owns nine cranes, does all the crane work for Joseph M. Sanzari Inc., a large Hackensack-based contracting firm — and rents its cranes and services out to other contractors as well.

“What we bring to the table for customers is our expertise,” said Shinn, the fourth generation of his family affiliated with what is now United Crane Rentals.

“As United Crane Rentals, we’ve been in the crane business almost 70 years. We believe we have the most professional work force in the region. We have a terrific collection of talent and dedication among our operators, mechanics, field representatives and office staff.”

Virtually all Sanzari-Shinn’s crane rentals include an operator.

“We’re just more comfortable operating that way,” said Shinn. “If contractors insist on an unmanned crane, we’ll check out their personnel. If they’re qualified, we’ll consider sending it out without our operator, but generally speaking, we like our own people to be on our equipment.”

Reliable Equipment

The Sanzari-Shinn crane fleet includes a Tadano ATF 110G-5, 130-ton hydraulic all-terrain crane, and a Kobelco CK1600-II, 160-ton crawler crane from Binder Machinery Company.

“Both units have worked very well for us,” said Shinn. “They do what they’re supposed to do, and the best thing about the units is that there’s rarely any downtime associated with either crane.

“That reliability allows us to schedule them for a lift and know that they’re going to be there and complete the job as scheduled for our customer.”

The company has its own in-house mechanics, both field and shop personnel, to keep the crane fleet up and running.

Full-Service Company

Between Sanzari-Shinn and United Crane Rentals, Shinn has conventional lattice-boom and hydraulic cranes with 18- to 660-ton capacities and boom lengths up to 620 ft.

“When it comes to lifting and placing, there’s not much we can’t do,” said Shinn. “We’re a full-service crane company in that we’ll take care of all the preplanning for customers, as well as performing the lift.”

Specialties include steel erection, poured-in-place concrete and bridge work, but the company handles all facets of crane work.

Recent jobs include an Army Corps of Engineers project in Newark, NJ, where the Kobelco CK1600 was an instrumental piece, and a steel erection job in Jersey City, NJ, where a 130-ton Tadano was needed.

Other Interests

Although his business ventures keep Shinn busy, he has always taken an active role in his community and in industry organizations.

In his youth, Shinn donated time and energy to assisting physically challenged children at The Saint Edmonds Home in Brick Township and later served as a volunteer firefighter in the same township.

Shinn currently serves on the board of trustees of the Colleen Giblin Foundation, which raises money and sponsors research for cancer treatments and cures for children with neurological diseases.

Shinn also is actively involved with industry organizations, including Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) of New Jersey, Utility and Transportation Contractors of America (UTCA) of New Jersey, and the Specialized Carriers and Rigging Association (SCRA).

He’s a longtime friend and supporter of the New York Football Giants organization; and along with business associates Sanzari, J. Fletcher Creamer Jr., and Fred Archers Jr., Shinn owns the Wall Township Speedway, a NASCAR-sanctioned racing facility in New Jersey.

(This article appears courtesy of “Building With Binder” magazine.)