TULSA, Okla. – September 16, 2026 – Auto Crane, a Ramsey Industries brand and a manufacturer of service truck cranes since 1958, will participate in the 2026 NACD Procurement and Fleet Group (NACDPFG) Conference, taking place September 21-24 at the Sonesta Nashville Airport in Nashville, Tennessee, and hosted by Thompson Machinery.

The annual conference brings together North American Caterpillar dealers and the procurement and fleet professionals who represent them. As more repair work moves on-site, those buyers are under growing pressure to keep revenue-earning trucks in service and control lifetime fleet cost. Auto Crane will attend as a top-level sponsor, present during the conference program, and exhibit at Truck Booth 3 during the Wednesday trade show.

“”Caterpillar service technicians across the U.S. and globally require the best tools to maintain heavy equipment and power systems,” said Scott Hausman, director of dealer sales at Auto Crane. “Understanding their needs from a jobs-to-be-done standpoint is critical as Auto Crane continues to innovate. We’re going to Nashville to listen as much as to present. What we hear from fleet professionals about weight, uptime, and connected equipment is what shapes the products we build next.”

A lighter crane line

Auto Crane will highlight the re-engineered 6-Series, the first models in a ground-up redesign of the company’s crane line. The re-engineered NexStar EHC-6 is more than 400 pounds lighter and built with 60 fewer components than the model it replaces, while maintaining 6,000 pounds of lifting capacity at six feet, a 36,000 ft-lb rating, and 20.5 feet of reach fully extended. Because the redesign retains the same bolt pattern, control systems, outrigger requirements, and PTO flow, the cranes fit existing body configurations.

“Every pound a crane weighs is a pound of tools and equipment the truck can’t carry,” said Chris Jenkins, brand manager at Auto Crane. “That is the problem we set out to solve with the 6-Series. I’m looking forward to walking fleet managers through a lighter crane that performs better in the HC-6 and the same as before on the EHC-6..”

Connected equipment

Ryan Holland will deliver a 30-minute presentation on Ramsey Connect™, Auto Crane’s rugged industrial IoT platform, on Tuesday, September 22. The system connects through the NexStar® 4 crane controller and delivers real-time data to web and mobile dashboards, giving fleets remote diagnostics, event-based alerts, maintenance reminders, GPS location, and geofencing.

New NexStar 4 cranes ordered since July 6, 2026 include the Ramsey Connect™ gateway along with 12 months of cloud service and cellular data at no additional cost and no increase in crane price. Retrofit kits are available for NexStar 4 units already in service.

“Ramsey Connect™ is the first step in moving our equipment from mechanical assets to connected ones,” said Ryan Holland, R&D Manager at Ramsey Industries. “The part I most want fleet managers to take away in Nashville is that we include it rather than sell it as an upgrade, and what that means for their trucks and for their service operations.”

Power on Demand and warranty coverage

Auto Crane will also feature Power on Demand™, which helps cut unnecessary engine idle hours to reduce fuel burn, engine wear, and maintenance. Every Auto Crane crane comes with an 18-month standard warranty. When customers register their crane, coverage extends another 18 months, for three full years of protection.

Visit Auto Crane in Nashville

Conference attendees can meet the Auto Crane team at the fleet roundtables on Tuesday afternoon and at Truck Booth 3 during the trade show on Wednesday, September 23, where the team will demonstrate the Ramsey Connect™ platform.

More information about the conference is available at nacdpfg.com. Learn more about Auto Crane at autocrane.com and about Ramsey Connect™ at ramseyindustries.com/autocrane/ramseyconnect.

About Auto Crane

Auto Crane is an American-owned, U.S.-made service-crane and work-truck equipment brand that helps fleet managers keep more revenue-earning trucks in service by lowering downtime risk and lifetime fleet cost. It addresses the Lifetime Cost Squeeze with equipment that is easier to service, gives fleets better visibility into idle time, usage and system status, and adds smarter safety and control in the field. Remote diagnostics, strong support, and an 18-month standard warranty that extends to 36 months with registration help reinforce that value. As more repair work moves on-site, that matters more because every truck spec now has to protect uptime, not just meet a lift spec. Auto Crane has manufactured in Tulsa, Oklahoma since 1958 and is a Ramsey Industries brand.

About Ramsey Industries

Ramsey Industries is the parent company of Auto Crane, Eskridge, and Ramsey Winch: the engineered intelligence behind every lift, pull and rotation. Based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Ramsey Industries designs and builds cranes, hoists, winches, and gear drives under one roof. Learn more at ramseyindustries.com.