ESTA supports Bulgaria’s NSPIT in call to update regs

Bulgaria’s heavy transport association has asked for ESTA’s support in pressing the country’s authorities to update their regulations on heavy and abnormal road transport. ESTA President David Collett wrote to Mladen Ganchev, chairman of NSPIT’s board and manager of Bulgarian heavy transport company Holleman to offer ESTA’s backing. NSPIT – the Bulgarian Association for the Transportation … Read more

Turkey’s AND joins ESTA

Turkish heavy transport Association AND has become an ESTA member in a move that will further strengthen international cooperation and help to raise standards in an important and developing market. AND was formed at the end of 2016 by13 companies. Today, it has 73 members who work exclusively in the heavy haulage and abnormal transport sector.  … Read more

Robert Markewitsch leaves ESTA Board

Robert Markewitsch from German company Gebr. Markewitsch is stepping down from the ESTA Board after six years. His replacement will be agreed at the ESTA meeting in Piacenza, Italy, in October. ESTA President David Collett said: “Robert has been a loyal and committed supporter of ESTA we have all been very grateful for his expertise, support … Read more

Backing for first marking and lighting report

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 created by ESTA just over a year ago. The report proposes adapting the current ECE R48 regulation as the basis … Read more

New EN1300 norms expected in 2021

ESTA is fully involved in the on-going work of agreeing European standards for mobile cranes. Through membership of the Dutch Standards Institute (NEN), ESTA Director Ton Klijn sits on the European Standards Committee CEN/TC 147 alongside the major crane manufacturers and regulator authorities. CEN TC 147 WG 11 is currently working on the new EN13000 norms … Read more

ESTA’s April in Amsterdam

Next year’s ESTA Spring Meeting and Awards in Amsterdam will be held on April 23 and 24, 2020. Go to the awards section of the ESTA website at or more information plus entry details and deadlines.

Huge wind turbine shows need for new safety focus

News that the world’s longest wind turbine blade is undergoing testing in the UK has underlined the importance of agreeing new transport and lifting best practice guildelines for the industry, says ESTA Director Ton Klijn. The 107 metre LM Wind Power blade will be put through its paces at the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult’s … Read more

ISO 9001 success for ECOL project

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.  ESTA … Read more

Tadano completes Demag acquisition from Terex

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. The total cost of the deal is approximately US$215 million which Tadano will meet from a combination of its own cash reserves and borrowed funds. In a statement issued this morning, … Read more

Japan Crane Association joins ICSA

The Japan Crane Association voted to join the International Crane Stakeholders Assembly (ICSA) at its board meeting in June, bringing the number of ICSA member organisations to seven.  Based in Tokyo, the Japan Crane Association (JCA) is a public corporation approved by the country’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Its main objective is to … Read more