Hydrauliska Industri AB

The name, Hiab, comes from the commonly used abbreviation of Hydrauliska Industri AB, a company founded in Hudiksvall, Sweden 1944 by Eric Sundin, a ski manufacturer who saw a way to utilize a truck's engine to power loader-cranes through the use of hydraulics.

[1] On the other side of the Bothnian Sea in Raisio, Finland about the same time, three brothers, Mikko, Mauno and Martti Terho developed a mechanical cable-operated interchangeable platform-loader (Cablelift) that utilised the truck's front winch, with which it was possible to use a variety of platform bodies.

The roots of today's Hiab Company lie in a series of acquisitions from 1977 onwards, when Partek Corporation embarked on a comprehensive diversification and internationalisation strategy.

During the late 1990s Partek strategically restructured itself into an engineering company, fully divesting its construction-materials activity and making several acquisitions in the load-handling equipment business.

During the same year the truck-mounted forklift business was acquired, bringing today's MOFFETT and PRINCETON PIGGY BACK brands into the company.