Welcome to ESTA, the leading European association for the abnormal road transport and mobile crane rental industry.

We represent national trade associations whose members are mobile crane and access platform, rental and abnormal road transport companies.

Individual companies can become special members if there is no appropriate national association from their country.

ESTA also welcomes affiliate members from relevant clients, government departments, regulatory bodies, service companies and all organisations active in our markets.

In addition, ESTA has recently created the category of “Supporter” for companies that are members of their ESTA’s national associations but who want to become more directly involved in ESTA’s work.

ESTA has started lobbying European organisations to support plans for the harmonization of marking and lighting regulations for abnormal road transport. The move follows the completion of the first report from the special stakeholder working group which proposes adapting the current ECE R48 regulation as the basis for agreed Europe-wide lighting and marking standards. Go to ESTA News for more

The final touches are now being put to ESTA’s new best practice guide for the safe transport and erection of onshore wind turbines.  Following a series of recent accidents involving manually steered trailers, the working group has decided to include several late amendments. Go to ESTA News for more.

ESTA is determined to give new impetus to expanding its Crane Capacity Index project in 2020.

Despite the doubts from some manufacturers, we are convinced that this will support our safety agenda by increasing industry transparency.

ESTA’s planned European Crane Operators’ Licence has been awarded ISO 9001-2015 certification after successfully completing the required audit. The award means that ECOL can now apply to have the licence registered and recognised by the Dutch NLQF qualifications framework. Through the NLQF it will be aligned with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) across Europe. 

Full story in ESTA News or go to www.ecol-esta.eu for more ECOL information

Japanese crane manufacturer Tadano today announced that it has completed the acquisition of the Demag mobile crane business from its US owner, the Terex Corporation. Full story in ESTA News

The European Commission’s Wind Harmony project - created to improve safety in Europe’s burgeoning wind energy sector – has agreed to include transportation in the study in response to a request from ESTA. Go to ESTA News for more

International road transport association IRU is throwing its weight behind ESTA’s call for a network of abnormal road transport corridors to be created across Europe. Go to ESTA News for more.

The Japan Crane Association voted to join the International Crane Stakeholders Assembly (ICSA) at its board meeting in June. Go to ESTA News for more

Netherlands-based heavy lifting and transport specialist Mammoet has today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire leading UK-based rival ALE. News that the two were in talks first broke in the first week of July. The deal is subject to approval from the relevant competition authorities, but industry insiders do not expect that to be a significant obstacle. For the full story go to ESTA News

ESTA President David Collett has launched a new attack on unnecessary red tape that is damaging both ESTA’s members and wider European industry.  Speaking at the recent Breakbulk exhibition in Bremen,  he called for the adoption of common, Europe-wide the rules governing escort vehicles; harmonized marking and lighting regulations; and an agreed EU system of online permitting.  For the full story go to ESTA News.

David Collett, Managing Director of the UK-based Collett Group, has been unanimously elected as ESTA President for a third – and final – term by ESTA’s ruling General Assembly meeting in Munich in April. At the same meeting, Iffet Türken, Executive Board Member of Kässbohrer,  was unanimously elected to serve a second term as Vice-President of ESTA’s Section Transport.

Patricia Crespin from French association UFL has agreed to join the ESTA Board of Directors, and Łukasz Chwalczuk, from Polish organisation OSPTN, has also been elected a member of the ESTA Board.  He has stepped down from his post as Transport Executive. 

A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between ECOL and the British Columbia Association for Crane Safety in Canada.  The agreement means that future European ECOL card-holders will be able to work in British Columbia without taking any further tests, and vice versa, as the two bodies’ training standards are fully aligned.  The organisations hope that the agreement will eventually apply to all of Canada.

ESTA’s European Crane Operators Licence (ECOL) project took another significant step forward in April with the announcement of further backing from leading names in the crane industry and the first official meeting of the new organization’s 9-strong Committee of Experts which took place during the Bauma exhibition in Munich. Go to ESTA News for more

Fagioli, Mammoet and Sarens took two prizes each at this year’s ESTA Awards held in Munich on April 11. The awards dinner, organized jointly by ESTA and International Cranes and Specialize Transport magazine, was one of the biggest ever with more than 530 guests in the ballroom of the Westin Grand Hotel.

Four other winners chosen from the 36 finalists – from ten countries - were Heavy Load Services, Liebherr-Werk Ehingen, Spierings Mobile Cranes and Wagenborg Nedlift. Go to the ESTA Awards  ection for full details

Turkish heavy cargo lifting and transport association AKT has joined ESTA. Based in Istanbul, AKT has just under 100 members who work throughout Turkey and internationally. In a separate move, Swiss training and consulting company Combe Driver Services is the latest organization to become an ESTA supporter.  

The ESTA Working Group developing proposals to harmonize European standards and regulations on lighting and marking for heavy transport continues to make progress. The next meeting will be held in Munich in April during the Bauma exhibition. The group  hopes to produce draft proposals later this year and then  lobby national authorities and international bodies to make them binding. 

Dutch MEP Caroline Nagtegaal has written to the European Commission in support of ESTA’s campaign to develop heavy transport corridors across Europe and reduce the bureaucracy caused by the maze of different permits required by member states. Her action follows a meeting earlier in March with ESTA Director Ton Klijn who detailed the problems being faced by exceptional transport companies across Europe. Go to ESTA News for more.

ESTA has been looking at the lessons Europe can learn from the experiences of abnormal load and heavy transport organisations in the USA - and especially the SC&RA’s Uniform Permit Transport initiative which aims to harmonize weight allowances and permitting systems across all US states, something that ESTA is attempting to do in Europe.

The subject was discussed last month when ESTA Director Ton Klijn and Section Transprt President André Friderici spoke at the annual Specialized Transportation Symposium run by the Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association in Houston. Go to ESTA News for more

Terex Corporation has agreed to sell its Demag Mobile Cranes business to Tadano for approximately US$215 million.  Included in the transaction are the manufacturing facilities in Zweibrucken, Germany and multiple sales and service locations.  The sale, which is subject to government regulatory approvals is targeted to close in mid-2019. Go to ESTA News for more

ESTA’s planned European Crane Operators’ Licence  is receiving growing support from major clients who see it as a way of improving performance and safety on site. 

Go to ESTA News for more

The International Crane Stakeholders Assembly is working on two new position papers – on the transport and erection of large wind farm components and the use of cranes on barges.

Members of ESTA’s European Crane Operators Licence (ECOL) working group have reached agreement on one of the most important outstanding issues – how to set a standard for experienced operators without forcing them to completely retrain. Go to ESTA News for more

ESTA Director Ton Klijn has been appointed to the lifting appliances committee NEN 345002 “Hijswerktuigen” of the Dutch standards institute (NEN). Through this role, Klijn will be able to sit on behalf of ESTA on the European standards committee CEN/TC 147, alongside the major crane manufacturers and regulatory authorities. Go to ESTA News for more information

Bulgaria’s heavy transport association has joined ESTA as the association’s expansion in Eastern Europe continues. NSPIT - the Bulgarian Association for the Transportation of Oversized Cargoes – was formed in 2015 as part of the industry’s attempts to update the country’s regulations governing heavy transport. Go to ESTA News for more information

Pressure is growing on the European Union and national transport authorities to agree heavy transport corridors throughout Europe in the wake of increasing concerns about deteriorating infrastructure and unnecessary bureaucracy.

The issue – and the related problem of obtaining permits from local regulators - dominated discussions at last month’s meeting in Paris of ESTA’s transport section.

ESTA has applied to have the ECOL operator certificate registered and recognised at European Qualifications Framework (EQF) Level 2 across Europe. A decision is expected in later in June. 

New moves to harmonize standards and regulations governing lighting and marking on heavy transport throughout Europe are underway following the inaugural meeting of a new ESTA technical working group hosted by BSK in Frankfurt at the end of January.

Apart from ESTA and BSK, organisations on the working group were the Dutch association TLN; Tii Group; Hipertrans, Broshuis, Kässbohrer and Faymonville. Any organisations interested in joining should contact the ESTA office. For the full story go to ESTA News. 

Spanish transport authorities have backed down in their attempts to enforce changes in the country’s exceptional transport regulations that discriminated against international hauliers.

The move follows a series of complaints made to the European Commission and the Spanish government from ESTA, the International Road Transport Union (IRU) and a host of national trade bodies. Go to ESTA News for the full story.