Crane Carrier Company has announced the retirement of 50-year CCC and refuse industry veteran, Butch Butler. Butler joined Crane Carrier Company after graduating from Tulsa University in 1970. When he accepted a sales assistant position with the company, he couldn’t have predicted he’d spend the next 50 years building a highly successful career helping Crane Carrier grow into a leading chassis OEM for the waste and recycling industry. “I had several options to choose from back then. Crane Carrier made me the best offer and they’ve taken good care of me ever since,” he says.
When Butler started at Crane Carrier, the company was primarily serving the mixer and oil industries. A few years after joining the CCC team, Butler witnessed the company’s pioneering entry into the refuse market in 1974 with the introduction of the Crane Carrier Centurion – the first vehicle to be custom designed for the waste disposal industry.
The Centurion’s popularity propelled Butler into a national accounts management role and set the stage for his decades-long career working alongside CCC dealers selling Crane Carrier trucks. He was a critical participant in the company’s expansion into the refuse market, developing new territories and customers for CCC – initially private haulers, and a few years later, watching the brand take off in the municipal space as well.
Over the years, Butler has become a well-known fixture in the refuse industry, participating in hundreds of tradeshows and thousands of sales presentations, truck demos and site visits. He has mentored many Crane Carrier product and sales managers and been an invaluable resource for the company with his expertise and historical knowledge.
“Butch leaves behind a substantial legacy, both with Crane Carrier Company and with the refuse industry,” says Mark Hampshire, Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing, CCC. “He’s built a name for himself through his customer-first approach to sales and service, his knowledge and his integrity. The Crane Carrier family is proud of Butch and his accomplishments – he will be greatly missed.”
Looking back, Butler has most enjoyed cultivating relationships and working with dealers to sell CCC’s exclusive Crew Cab – the only four-man low entry tilt cab available in the U.S. “I’ve always loved selling the Crew Cab – it hits a sweet spot no other truck on the market can,” he shares.
He credits his 50-year tenure to his pride in CCC products, strong partnerships he’s built with his dealers and customers, support of good managers and always feeling valued. “I could have retired years ago, but there has always been a place for me at Crane Carrier,” he says. “I think that’s a rarity these days.”
As far as advice for his fellow industry peers, Butler stresses the importance of personal interactions. “New technologies have developed that make is easier and faster to reach out to people, but face-to-face communication always has, and always will be, the best way to take care of your customers.”