CPA Bulletin

www.cpa.uk.net CPA Bulletin > November 2024 29 ESTA: 2 More information about all these stories and more is on the ESTA website at www.estaeurope.eu Copies of the new guides can be downloaded by members from the website. ESTA sets out five-year heavy transport priorities in new manifesto The manifesto - entitled ‘Competitive and Harmonised Abnormal Transport in Europe’ - is intended to support the delivery of ESTA’s overall mission to improve the safety and efficiency of Europe’s vital heavy transport sector. ESTA Director Ton Klijn said: “There is a growing level of political activity in the transport sector as our national leaders become increasingly aware of the importance of the work being carried out by our members. “Now it is essential that those same political leaders appreciate the need for a coordinated approach that crosses European borders and boundaries if the potentially great gains for industry and our clients are to be captured and not lost. We hope our manifesto will help to drive that debate forward.” There are two versions of the manifesto - a short one for public consumption and a longer more detailed version that is only available to members. Both can be accessed via the ESTA website. The manifesto’s four headline priorities are: • Harmonised rules for heavy and abnormal road transport • Access to safe and secure parking places • Adoption of sector-specific rules and elimination of country-specific barriers • Establishment of abnormal transport corridors The creation of a network of safe and secure parking places for abnormal transport is crucial both to boost the industry’s productivity and also to help with the recruitment of the next generation of drivers. In addition, given the growing importance of abnormal road transport between various European industrial areas, ESTA is increasingly hopeful that its calls for the introduction of “abnormal transport corridors” will begin to garner serious support. Such corridors would allow abnormal transport to run smoothly and avoid potential damage of infrastructure, that is not adapted to abnormal road transport weights and dimensions. In the manifesto’s introduction, ESTA says: “ESTA has members that are outside the European Union. We hope and expect that the adoption of a sensible and efficient regulatory regime within the EU will lead to similar reforms and alignment within the wider European community and beyond.” The text of the short manifesto is in the transport section of the library in ESTA’s website. The full version is available to members in the Knowledge Base section. ESTA welcomes comments and suggestions, especially constructive ones. If you would like to join in the discussions, please contact the ESTA Office at officemanager@estaeurope.eu Members asked to boost expert backing for safety work ESTA is calling on its members to encourage their own health and safety experts to support the expanding work of the association’s Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Commission as it campaigns for the harmonization of European HSE regulations and systems. The Commission started work last year as a permanent addition to ESTA’s structure, recognising the long-term and complex nature of its aims. While health and safety laws in the European Union are governed in principle by Brussels’ directives, they are enforced at the national level and each member state has its own legislation and enforcement agencies. This has resulted in regulations that are different from country to country - and in some cases from district to district. The project is being led by ESTA Section Transport President Iffet Türken who said: “Common standards would reduce the need for unnecessary re-training of operatives who work across borders and jurisdictions and would dramatically reduce the paperwork required to comply with those different countries’ rules and regulations.” Türken, who is an Executive Board Member of trailer manufacturer Kässbohrer, stressed: “Unified standards will not only enhance safety but also improve operational consistency and efficiency.” The Commission is also to create a dedicated platform for exchanging HSEQ experiences among ESTA members. This will aid members in sharing best practice, boosting collaboration and fostering a culture of continuous learning with a focus on legislative coordination, standardisation of procedures and risk prevention. A new five-year manifesto for European heavy and abnormal transport has been published by ESTA to highlight the organisation’s medium-term strategic transport priorities from now until 2029.