A milestone in European industry cooperation Today marks a historic milestone for ESTA: 50 years ago, on 26 May 1976, the official founding charter was signed in Paris, establishing the European association for the heavy transport and mobile crane industry. What began as a shared initiative by national associations from Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg, the … Read more
Blanca Claeyssens, founder of ASA France, has been appointed to the ESTA Board. She was elected unanimously by ESTA’s General Assembly in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, last month. She has built her career around safety, drawing on experience in aviation, transport, and heavy lifting. She started out as an airline captain before moving into management and … Read more
Following the highly successful ESTA Awards of Excellence event in April, the European heavy transport and lifting industry is now looking forward to another significant event: ESTA’s 50th Anniversary celebrations. This milestone anniversary marks five decades of European cooperation, innovation, and industry representation, and is one of the most significant moments in ESTA’s history. Our … Read more
The 2026 ESTA Awards dinner took place in the Netherlands on April 16 at the five-star Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin in Noordwijk aan Zee. In what was regarded as one of the most competitive competitions in the awards’ history, the finalists came from 23 different companies and eight countries. Details of the winning companies … Read more
ESTA Director Ton Klijn has announced that he is to retire at the end of June. He will be succeeded by ESTA Policy Officer Miguel Florez de la Colina. Ton Klijn has been active in the heavy lifting and transport industry since 1977, initially with Mammoet and later joining Wagenborg Nedlift where he was Managing … Read more
ESTA has proposed a series of amendments to the European Union’s Military Mobility Package – while at the same time underlining its strong support for the proposals. The amendments are an attempt to make the whole package as efficient and as practical as possible for civilian transport operators who are responsible for an estimated 80 … Read more
Experts working on ESTA’s plans for a new best practice guide and training scheme for Modular Hydraulic Suspended Trailers and SPMTs are developing a graded operator licence structure to take account of the type of transport and the complexity of the project involved. They are also developing an agreed set of additional requirements for operators … Read more
Sponsorship positions for this year’s ESTA events – for the 2026 Awards Event and the 50th Anniversary ‘year-round’ slots – are selling fast and companies that want to be involved should contact ESTA as soon as possible. ESTA Marketing Manager Connie Lindhoud said: “ESTA was founded in 1976, so this year is a very special … Read more
ESTA has released the detailed results of its industry-wide safety survey. The results revealed that safety is a high priority for the vast majority of companies, management and employees in the European heavy lifting and abnormal transport industry – but adds that there is more work to do if the highest standards are to be … Read more
ESTA has published a new position paper on Military Mobility as it pushes Brussels to deliver on its promise of efficient and common heavy transport regulations for both military and industrial use. The paper strongly backs the EU’s recently published Military Mobility Package, but contains recommendations on how to improve them further and to ensure … Read more