Click here to view a table of the collateral extracted from UCCs involving Retterath-Robertson enterprises.

To view an individualized log of the collateral for each of the companies, click one of the following links:

General Crane, Inc. (Steven Retterath Companies)

Gulfstream Crane

Palm Beach Trucking, LLC d/b/a Merchant Transport

Republic Tower & Hoist, LLC

Royal Crane, LLC d/b/a Hunter Crane

United Crane & Rigging, LLC

Sample Table

Linden-Comansa
Seizes Equipment from
General Crane's Houston Yard

November 13, 2009

On Wednesday, November 11, agents for Linden-Comansa America, LLC, accompanied by multiple armed Constable officials, seized and removed tower crane equipment from General Crane USA’s Houston yard.

Thursday, November 12, we reported that Linden-Comansa sued General Crane this week for “Breach of Contract” violations, which included reportedly failing to pay approximately $1.5 million in interest payments and other fees and for allegedly stealing over $800,000 in leased tower crane equipment.

Linden-Comansa filed an “Application for Writ of Sequestration” to repossess equipment fearing that General Crane “will waste the property or destroy the property” during the suit. The judge subsequently signed the order. A writ of sequestration allows the court to take possession of the equipment until the case is adjudicated.

According to multiple sources, over the course of approximately 10 hours on Wednesday Linden-Comansa officials took into custody numerous tower crane parts cited as “stolen” in the lawsuit. A full inventory of the repossessed equipment is not available at this time.

However, Linden-Comansa provided to the court an inventory of the missing parts for the leased equipment.

Officers from the Harris County Constable Precinct 4 escorted the Linden-Comansa agents onto General Crane’s premises and helped oversee the proceedings.

We will continue to provide updates on the Linden-Comansa case as we learn more.

Eleven Tower Cranes Linked
to General Crane Found

October 2, 2009

CraneWatchdog.com recently discovered 11 tower cranes sitting idle in a Houston, TX storage yard.

The yard, located at 7201 Easthaven Blvd., is owned by Naegeli Properties, Inc. and affiliated with the Houston-based trucking company Naegeli Transportation, Inc.

Each of the 11 Linden Comansa cranes appear as collateral on a single September 2008 UCC filing documenting a loan from Linden Comansa, LLC to Gulfstream Crane, LLC, General Crane, Inc. and General Crane (USA), Inc.

The indentified tower cranes were originally part of a record-breaking $35 million purchase order General Crane USA made with Linden Comansa America in July 2006 for 60 cranes. Linden Comansa appears to have provided General Crane with financing for about one-third of the order.

To finance the remainder of the purchase, General Crane USA sought other lenders, including Banc of America Leasing & Capital, LLC.

General Crane USA co-owner Jim Robertson summed up his company’s acquisitions strategy in a September 2006 statement to Lift & Access Magazine:

“Some people might say the economy's going in the other direction, but we feel it's time for us to grow, time to expand.”

Since 2008, however, General Crane has encountered problems in meeting their debt obligations for certain loans.

On June 16, 2009 Banc of America sued General Crane to recover over $8 million in allegedly defaulted loans. The following month, on July 10, another financer for the Linden Comansa purchase, Center Capital Corporation, sued General Crane for allegedly defaulting on payments and is attempting to repossess four additional tower cranes valued at nearly $1.8 million.

During his testimony for the Center Capital lawsuit on August 18, Jim Robertson acknowledged that his company (General Crane USA) was “more than three” months behind on payments to Center Capital Corporation. When asked why the company was delinquent he stated:

“I had no idea. My organization, we had no idea that this economy was going to fall completely off the bottom of the planet globally. We had no reason to believe that, and I don't think I'm alone.”

If you have learned of other stored, unused equipment for General Crane USA or any of its affiliates, please contact CraneWatchdog.com at 1.877.272.4515 or contactus@cranewatchdog.com.