Lorry-Mounted Crane Hire in Kent

A lorry-mounted crane — also known as a lorry loader, a truck crane, or by the brand name HIAB — is a hydraulic crane bolted directly to the chassis of a delivery vehicle. Rather than hiring a flatbed lorry and then a separate mobile crane to unload at the destination, you book one vehicle and one operator who does both jobs in one visit. For the vast majority of UK construction and industrial lifts, this is the fastest, cheapest and least disruptive way to move and place a load.

We run lorry-mounted cranes rated between roughly 1 tonne and 6 tonnes lifting capacity, with reach that varies according to the load weight and the boom configuration. That covers the great majority of jobs in Kent and the South East — steel beams up to typical residential and light commercial sizes, full shipping containers up to 26ft, palletised building materials, plant up to mini-digger and small tracked machine size, and a long list of awkward one-off loads that do not fit anywhere else. Heavier or longer-reach lifts can be matched to the right vehicle from a wider network.

The compliance side matters. A properly run lorry-loader operation needs trained, certified drivers (the recognised standard in the UK is ALLMI), LOLER-examined lifting equipment, and full public liability insurance. Without those in place, principal contractors will refuse access to site and you risk an unsafe lift. Every job we deliver is set up to satisfy a serious main contractor's vetting — the same standard whether you are a one-off domestic customer or a regular trade client.

The process is straightforward. You tell us what the load is, how heavy it is, where it needs to go, and what access looks like at both ends. We confirm the right vehicle, agree a fixed price, and book a slot that fits your programme. On the day, our operator collects, transports, sets up stabiliser legs at the destination and places the load exactly where you want it. Most domestic lifts are under an hour on site. Commercial projects with multiple drops can be programmed consecutively to keep your team moving.