Boom truck and picker rental in Grande Prairie

R 03 mPicker, boom truck or pickup: what to say

"Picker" is the Western word for a boom truck. Say picker truck or boom truck and give the load. Alberta's OHS Code defines a boom truck as a truck with a hydraulic, turret-mounted, stabilized boom, telescoping or articulating, that can swing, hoist or raise and lower its load¹, and the trade, Crane and Hoisting Equipment Operator, Boom Truck, is compulsory².

• Boom lift. Alberta calls it an aerial device: it positions a basket or platform at height¹. A load to set needs a boom truck.
• Wellhead work. Pumping, wireline, coiled tubing and service-rig work sit in a separate Wellhead Boom Truck branch, with 100 hours of work experience and 5 days of classroom training³. A rooftop unit and a wellsite pick need different tickets.
• Stiff or knuckle. A stiff (telescoping) boom extends in sections; a knuckle boom folds at a joint. The choice changes who may operate it.

See picker trucks and knuckle boom trucks.

R 06 mWho can operate it in Alberta

The line is the crane's lifting capacity, not the truck's weight. A certificate is required for telescoping booms, and articulating booms with live lines, over 4.5 tonnes (5 tons) up to 59 tonnes (65 tons)², and for knuckle booms without live lines over 7.3 tonnes (8 tons) up to 59 tonnes (65 tons)². Below those lines, a competent worker authorized by the employer must be able to show knowledge of the load charts and signal code (s.64)¹.

On a bare rental (operator not included), your operator must meet the rule for the crane you rent, so get its rated capacity and boom type in writing. The truck must carry load charts showing rated capacity at every permitted boom angle and radius (s.63(1))¹, and a lift above 75% of rated capacity needs a lift calculation¹.

Alberta has no annual non-destructive testing rule that names boom trucks. Section 89 sets 12-month testing for mobile cranes as the Code defines them¹, and that definition excludes boom trucks, as does s.88, which adopts CAN/CSA Z150-98 (R2004)¹. Ask what inspections the truck has had. The full rules are on Alberta's page, in operator certification and in boom truck inspection.

R 09 mWorking near power lines in the city

Within 7 m of an overhead line, the employer must find out its voltage and set the limit of approach from Schedule 4¹. For a 750 V to 40 kV line the limit is 3.0 m¹; for 138 kV and 144 kV it is 4.0 m¹. Working closer means notifying the line's operator first and getting its help protecting workers¹.

The distances do not apply to equipment transported under a line when its total height, carrier included, is under 4.15 m¹. A stowed boom is in transport; a boom raised over the lane is not. The power-line lookup gives the distance for your line.

R 12 mSetting up on a street or lane

Anyone wanting to work on City property files an Engineering Services permit request. The City lists $25 for a barricade permit and $150 for an excavation permit, and processes requests within three business days of receiving them⁴. A boom truck that blocks a lane, alley or sidewalk while it lifts will usually be a barricade case; confirm with the City.

The rules sit in the Traffic Bylaw (C-1166). No one may place a barricade on public property without a permit from Senior Management, or place, pile or store material or equipment there without one. An obstruction left without a permit must come off within 24 hours of notice, after which the City may remove it and bill the cost⁵.

Documents. For the excavation permit the City asks for proof of $2,000,000 of liability insurance and a map of barricade and sign locations, a Traffic Accommodation Strategy built on Alberta Transportation's 2018 work-zone manual. Its page adds that one request form can cover several applications, such as excavation and barricade⁶. Ask the City whether the same documents apply to your barricade, and ask the supplier who sets out the signs.

Downtown. A vehicle or combination longer than 12 m may not load or unload on the downtown streets the bylaw lists, or in the alleys of the area bounded by 103 Avenue, Bear Creek, 96 Avenue and 97 Street. Between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. it may, if no alley is blocked, and a permit can be sought⁵. A straight truck can be up to 12.5 m long under the interprovincial weights agreement⁷, so a long unit can cross the line.

Ground. Alberta requires a boom truck's outriggers to be extended on solid footings¹, and for mobile cranes floats or pads¹, so ask for pads on a boom truck too. Tell the supplier if an outrigger would land on a curb, a utility lid or fresh asphalt. See outriggers and ground bearing.

Hours. Quiet hours are 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. on any day. Without the City Manager's written permission, no one may do construction in them, including with construction equipment, if the sound carries beyond the site; the City Manager can issue a permit for set hours in a set area⁸.

R 15 mWhat Alberta rates are based on

We found no free public hourly rate for a boom truck or picker in Alberta. Alberta's public buyers pay a paid guide's rates: the Alberta Roadbuilders & Heavy Construction Association (ARHCA) sells its 2026 Rental Rates Guide for $200⁹. We have not bought it and do not reproduce it. Alberta Wildfire sets its own rates only for fireline equipment the guide does not cover¹⁰; the one free Alberta rate that names a picker is among them. Published rates are benchmarks for public works, not quotes.

That is a small crane on a light truck hired for fires, not a large picker working in a city.

Labour. Job Bank publishes no median wage for boom truck crane operators in the Athabasca–Grande Prairie–Peace River Region; the Alberta median is $45.00 an hour¹¹. A wage is not a billed rate.

Suppliers. In June 2026 the City of Grande Prairie had 41 business locations with employees in commercial and industrial machinery and equipment rental and leasing, 19 of them with 1 to 4 employees¹². That covers far more than boom trucks, and no official count isolates them. GST is 5% in Alberta¹³, so ask whether a quote includes it. See picker truck rates.

R 18 mMoving the truck: routes, bans and permits

Truck routes. A commercial vehicle, or a vehicle and trailer, over 11,794 kg maximum gross weight or longer than 8.0 m overall must use a Truck Route, except for loading or unloading, and then by the shortest distance to and from the route⁵. Check the truck's gross weight and overall length against both numbers.

Road bans. In 2026 the City limited listed gravel roads to 75% of axle weight from April 4, 24 hours a day (it had been 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.), and lifted every ban on May 14, restoring full axle weights¹⁴. Check the City's notice before a spring booking; outside the city, provincial bans follow thaw depth readings of at least 25 cm and counties set bans on local roads¹⁵.

Big loads. Under s.12 of the Traffic Bylaw (C-1166), a load over the Traffic Safety Act's weight or size limits needs a permit from Senior Management, carried in the vehicle; Senior Management can also impose road bans on any City highway⁵. Provincial permits go through TRAVIS¹⁶.

Licence. A truck with 3 or more axles needs a Class 3 licence¹⁷; a two-axle truck falls under Class 5¹⁸. A Safety Fitness Certificate is required for a truck registered at 11,794 kg or more operating only within Alberta¹⁹, and those trucks need a CVIP inspection every 12 months²⁰. See licence and NSC rules.

R 21 mWhat to send for a Grande Prairie quote

A supplier prices the lift, not the truck. Ask the supplier for the chart capacity at your radius, and send:

1. The load: weight in kilograms, size, pick points and rigging weight.
2. Radius and height: from the set-up spot to where the load lands, and what it must clear.
3. The set-up spot: yard, driveway, street or alley, and who applies for the barricade permit.
4. Date, time and duration: a street closure left for days brings the 24-hour removal rule into play⁵.
5. Power lines within 7 m of the truck, boom or load¹.
6. Ground under the outriggers, and the slope.
7. The route in, and the dates if the site is on a gravel road.
8. Operated or bare, and for bare, the operator's certificate.

Example. A pump housing weighing 1,800 kg is set on a slab from the lane behind a shop, landing 8 m from the truck, in a morning. With 60 kg of slings (an example weight), the crane lifts 1,860 kg at 8 m. If that is more than 75% of the chart capacity at 8 m, Alberta requires a lift calculation¹. A lane blocked by the truck would likely need the $25 barricade permit⁴. The City decides; this is only a planning example. The size estimator does the load arithmetic.

R 24 mHow a request on BoomTrucks.ca works

BoomTrucks.ca is an independent reference. We do not rent, sell or lease equipment. Request a quote; it only goes to a company with your consent.

1. Describe the job: picker or boom truck, operated or bare, load, radius, address, date and any City permit you hold.
2. Your request is stored first. You see a reference on screen; we send no confirmation email.
3. It is saved, and nothing is sent to a company without your consent. Nothing is sent anywhere before that.
4. With your consent, your request goes to one company that rents, sells or finances boom trucks in your area. That company may pay BoomTrucks.ca for the referral.
5. That company quotes you directly. Price, permits and terms are between you and it.

Request a Grande Prairie quote, or see Red Deer, Edmonton and Alberta's rules.