MEC Aerial Work Platforms, a manufacturer of scissor lifts and vertical mast lifts, announced that it has received a Patent for its Xtra-Deck® by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on March 18, 2025. Originally introduced in 2020, the Xtra-Deck is a compact, integrated “platform within a platform” that allows operators to safely reach tight overhead spaces, eliminating the risk to stand on platform mid rails. This solution enhances jobsite safety, addresses long-standing challenges for MEWP operators, and supports compliance with fall protection regulations.
“We heard that the solution needed to deploy inside 10 seconds and stow away inside 10 seconds to give every reason to immediately use the safe work method,” said Gary Crook, MEC’s vice president of engineering. “MEC’s Xtra-Deck is there when it’s needed and folds away when it’s not.”
The patented Xtra-Deck features a 20-inch elevated platform with telescopic guardrails for compliant fall protection. Its compact 22-inch width allows access through tight ceiling grid panels and other congested overhead work areas commonly found in data center construction. When not in use, the Xtra Deck quickly stows away, maintaining full platform functionality without additional attachments, and its integrated design simplifies fleet inventory and logistics.
MEC boom lifts can be configured with one or two Xtra-Decks, for added flexibility. This is available on any new or existing MEC boom lift as an option.
For more information on MEC Aerial Work Platforms, visit www.MECawp.com
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.