ESTA's awards countdown

European specialized transport and mobile crane companies of all sizes are being asked to celebrate their successes by entering what has become one of the industry's biggest and most enjoyable events - the ESTA Users' Night and Awards.

The awards take place every year in the Spring and the 2015 event will be held on Thursday 23 April during the Intermat exhibition in Paris at the Hilton Hotel Charles de Gaulle Airport.

The evening has been steadily increasing in size and reputation in recent years and next year's awards ceremony is expected to be among the biggest yet.

The deadline for entries is 17 January but, whenever possible, ESTA is asking companies to try and get their entries in early, to help ease the pressure on the organisers.

The ESTA User's Night and Awards regularly attracts around 500 guests from around the world. The awards dinner is jointly run by ESTA - the European association for abnormal road transport and mobile cranes - and International Cranes and Specialized Transport magazine.

The full list of categories is:

* Transport job of the Year, trailer and load over 120 tonnes GVW
* Transport job of the year, trailer and load under 120 tonnes GVW
* Crane Job of the Year, telescopic cranes, lifting capacity under 120 tonnes
* Crane Job of the Year, telescopic cranes, lifting capacity over 120 tonnes
* Crane Job of the Year (lattice boom cranes)
* Safety Award
* Innovation Award for End Users
* Innovation Award for Manufacturers
* Combined Techniques Award
* SMPT Job of the Year

There is also the special Gino Koster Award for the personality of the year.

David Collett, ESTA president, said, "The evening has become firmly established as one of the main events of the year. It is a great chance to meet old friends and business colleagues, to make new contacts and celebrate the industry’s achievements and new developments."

For further information go to www.esta-eu.org or www.khl.com/events