Our story

The province of Småland, in southern Sweden, is the world’s heartland of heavy-duty lift trucks. It has a greater concentration of heavy-duty lift truck companies, history, heritage, craftsmanship and passion for the industry than any other part of the world. It was here that the story of Konecranes Lift Trucks began, in the 1950s and the beginning of the modern era of the lift truck business.

We put our heart into that first delivery in 1959, making the truck with great care. Since then, a lot has happened, but we have never let go of that tradition of fine truck craftsmanship, or the mission to provide each customer with trucks that are built for the world they are working in. Our trucks are now in operation in many types of industries across the world, and have evolved throughout the years with the latest technologies and industrial design.

We live and breathe lift trucks. Leading the way from the world’s heartland of lift trucks.

Excellence from Småland

The province of Småland, in southern Sweden, is the world’s heartland of heavy-duty lift trucks. Småland has a greater concentration of heavy-duty lift truck companies, history, heritage, craftsmanship and passion for the industry than any other part of the world.

Småland became the world’s heartland of heavy-duty lift trucks thanks to its wood industry and the pragmatic nature of its hard-working people. Småland is agriculturally poor but rich in trees: 50% of its surface area is covered by forest. Wood has been an essential part of the province’s economy for hundreds of years.

Motorized tractors were first used by Smålanders in the 1890s and 1900s. Some were adapted for wood harvesting by adding home-made masts and forks. By the 1930s, local entrepreneurs were making and selling lift trucks for logging and stacking, showing considerable ingenuity.

Those rough-and-ready early lift trucks were trailblazers, driving the productivity and profitability of their owners’ businesses. By the 1970s, Småland boasted a number of important lift truck companies doing business across Scandinavia, Europe and the world.

The history of Konecranes Lift Trucks dates back to the 1950s and the beginning of the modern era of the lift truck business. In 1959 our first lift truck was shipped from our factory in southern Sweden. We put our heart into that first delivery, making the truck with great care and craftsmanship.

Today, over half a century later, our attitude is exactly the same. We have worked hard to provide each of our customers with lift trucks that are built for the world they are working in, regardless of industry, lifting capacity or other challenges. Our mission is to find that perfect match, even if it requires us to go to the drawing table and design a brand new solution.

We now sell and service our lift trucks all over the world as part of Konecranes, the world's leading provider of smarter lifting equipment and service. Visit our production facilities and you'll find a close-knit community of people with a common passion: making the hardest-working, longest-lived lift trucks in the world.

Konecranes is leading the way from the world’s heartland of lift trucks.

Watch our story:

History of Konecranes Lift Trucks

We build and deliver the, at the time, world’s largest reach stacker for handling containers on river barges (to handle negative lifts) for customer Dörpener Umschlaggesellschaft (DUK) in north-east Germany who want to expand its river transportation business. The result is the SMV 4545 TA3 which stays in operation for 15 years. 


 

Read more about Ecolifting HERE. 

 

Current SVP Andreas Falk on the left, former SVP Lars Fredin on the right. 

To read more about our management, click HERE. 

 

Press release: Konecranes delivers 10,000th lift truck. 

 

To learn more about this read our press release or on our pages for Smart Connected Lift Trucks.