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Meet Jim Jatho, the self-proclaimed “crane nerd” who’s turned his fascination with heavy machinery into a career with Liebherr mobile and crawler cranes. As the product manager for lattice boom cranes, Jatho plays a pivotal role in connecting customers with some of the most impressive industry cranes constructed at Liebherr-Werk Ehingen GmbH.
His journey into the crane world started off with an unexpected twist. With a background in engineering, he began his career at a Texas refinery, where he stumbled into the realm of engineered lift plans. This chance encounter ignited his passion for cranes and set him on a path that led to Liebherr in 2021. Since then, he’s been at the helm of managing Liebherr USA’s lattice boom cranes, a diverse lineup of traditional crawler cranes, as well as mobile lattice boom cranes with lifting capacities ranging from 550 U.S. tons (USt) to 3,300 USt.
One of the standout machines in Liebherr’s arsenal is the LG 1800-1.0 lattice boom mobile crane. This beast combines the muscle of a traditional lattice boom crane with the nimbleness of a mobile chassis, capable of lifting a whopping 880 USt. It’s the kind of machine that gets Jatho excited about showing customers the full extent of what Liebherr has to offer. He loves the look on their faces when they see something they’ve never seen before, whether it’s the sheer scale of the equipment or the innovative designs.
“I love showing customers things they have never seen before including our factory and large crawlers,” Jatho said. “A personal highlight of mine is being entrusted to give a factory tour on my own.”
In his day-to-day work, Jatho provides essential technical support and guidance to U.S. customers, ensuring they have everything they need to tackle their projects. He acts as a crucial link between the customers and the Ehingen factory in Germany, making sure communication flows smoothly and that everyone’s on the same page. His job often takes him on the road, visiting customers across the U.S., where he enjoys putting faces to names and understanding the unique challenges each project presents.
For Jatho, it’s not just about the cranes — it’s about the people and the stories behind them.
