It is interesting to note that the term industrial rigging was coined in the days of commercial sailing ships. While there are still many recreational sailing ships, commercial sailing ships that are used to haul heavy goods are scarce today. However, the term is still commonly used to refer to companies, like Buckner Industrial Rigging, that specialize in using heavy lift crawler cranes and certified industrial riggers to move heavy or irregular items from one place to another.

Back in the days when the most common mode of long-distance transport was by sail, the only ways to transport goods around the ship or from the dock to the ship was by pulleys, ropes, and plenty of muscle. There were no gas-powered engines or electricity. There was also little safety equipment.

In those days, riggers had to be careful and well trained in order to get the job done and maybe even survive. An old-time rigger became a skilled and valued professional because he knew how to use simple equipment to safely move loads that could not be budged by humans or beasts of burden.

Industrial Riggers Today

Today, industrial riggers are still skilled and valued professionals, but they may use powerful equipment that can move objects that weigh millions of pounds. These heavy lift jobs may be performed with the help of forklifts, crawler cranes, and special platform trailers and not just ropes and pulleys. Because moving very heavy objects either up several stories or across many miles are specialized work, typical riggers have to serve an apprenticeship before they can prove themselves as a professional. In that way, this is similar to the apprenticeship that riggers went through before the invention of powered trucks and cranes.

Here at Buckner Companies, we are proud to blend this tradition of industrial rigging and heavy lifting with the most modern equipment, approaches to safety plans, and respect for our employees and business partners. In fact, our company has been offering industrial and heavy commercial services for over six decades, and many of our employees can say their parents and grandparents also worked here. Contact us to learn how we can meet your company’s needs.