QUICK QUOTEFor over 100 years, Moir Crane Service has been an integral part of Windsor and Essex Counties growth. From the Ambassador Bridge to the Detroit-Windsor tunnel, the downtown parking garage, the Casino, City Hall, University of Windsor, St. Clair College, and the Herb Gray Parkway, Moir Crane has helped transform the architectural and economic landscape of the City of Roses and its neighboring town and villages.
The company’s history dates back to 1890 when founder Alexander Moir arrived in Windsor as a manager for the Sheddon Forwarding Company. Recognizing a need for a Cartage service to supply the bustling businesses of Windsor, Moir teamed up with his 5 children, Roy, Bruce, Dude, Jack and Charlotte to form Moir Cartage.
The first delivery vehicles for the new company were dray wagons pulled by teams of horses which would pick up goods from the CN Railway on Riverside Drive and deliver to merchants throughout the city. Alexander Moir went on to become a Windsor City Alderman. Moir Cartage had the distinction of hauling the first commercial load across the ambassador bridge, November 1929.
In the early 1960’s James Moir Sr., became a partner in the business after the passing of his father Roy, with his uncle Bruce. James continued to grow the existing trucking and machinery moving business while venturing off to buy the firm’s first crane. That crane went on to help build the parking garage at Goyeau Street and many more jobs thereafter.
In the 1970’s, Moir Crane Service & Machinery Movers changed locations. The addition of larger vehicles like cranes, and the overall growth of the firm, meant the previous Riverside Drive location (across from the CN Railway) was too small. James developed the new property and erected a facility at the North Talbot Road location.
In 1976 James Moir Sr.’s son Randy 4th generation, the company’s current owner, began working full time for the company. He served as an apprentice operating engineer and went on to operate the firm’s mobile cranes.
In 1980, James promoted Randy to the office to initially run the crane operations. Over the next 20 years, the company had unprecedented growth employing in excess of 100 employees at its peak. Randy formed a Rental Company, Moir’s Lift Central, which also enjoyed amazing success and ultimately that firm was sold to an Australian firm.
In the early 2000’s the companies Rigging and Millwrighting services were sold off and the crane company continued under Randy’s guidance. Moir Crane Service got through the great recession of 2008-2012 and went on to provide cranes for the Herb Gray Parkway, the Engineering facility at the U of W, the expansion at St. Clair College, our new City Hall and many of the new homes erected in the past several years. Randy’s son James and daughter Shannon represent the 5th generation of Moir’s working in the business. Shannon is now running the day to day operations and is also the chair of the Canadian Crane Rental Association of Canada!
“I’m very proud of my heritage and hope that my children and grandchildren will appreciate the legacy my great grandfather Alexander Moir left behind. Moir has survived as a business with each succeeding generation learning from those before us. Unmatched service, respect and integrity are the hallmarks of our business” – Randy Moir
