RHINOS AND ELEPHANTS AND BEARS. OH MY!

We have an affinity for animals. Our company is branded with a polar bear. Our major brand, HIAB, sports an elephant as its logo.

While a polar bear to represent Atlas Polar seems pretty obvious, you might question the elephant. Or not, if you’re graphically inclined (think trunk and boom) or know a bit about HIAB history.

HIAB cranes have been involved in animal rescue and delivery (pets and the bona fide wild kind) for a very long time, the fodder for many heartwarming stories—and who doesn’t love an animal story?

In the 1960s, an older model HIAB 174 Speedloader crane was nicknamed the ‘Elefant’, creating quite a stir as it delivered giraffes, rhinos, zebras, elephants and other animals to their new home at a Swedish zoo. Every day became an exciting dining experience for truckers, visitors and animals alike, as the HIAB delivered their daily meals. Of course, the Elefant was used for transportation tasks at the zoo as well, hoisting roofs, pouring concrete, lifting heavy objects and constructing many aspects of the facility.

Over the years, HIABs have made the news for their role in rescuing distressed animals, from cats in trees to horses trapped in ditches and collapsed in fields and donkeys in wooded areas. Fire and Rescue services in the UK routinely use HIAB truck-mounted cranes in their rescue operations, with teams of firefighters trained in this specialized field.

Heidi the donkey is one such case. She went missing en route to her new home in a sanctuary and was later found cold and in shock in a ditch. She was taken to the vet hospital but sadly died of pneumonia two days later. Whisper, the horse’s rescue, had a much happier ending, saved after being trapped in a ditch near her stables. We covered one of our favourite stories in an earlier blog about helping a collapsed horse to its feet in Shropshire (read the story here).

Around here, polar bears and elephants are the best of friends—you’ll see us together everywhere. And we’re always here to help our friends in need—even if they don’t have animal logos.