Having joined the European association of abnormal road transport and mobile cranes (ESTA) as policy officer this month, Miguel Florez de la Colina has shared his thoughts on the most pressing issues facing the industry.
The two main factors that Florez points to are the problems of obtaining permits, which he puts down to unnecessary and often ill-informed local bureaucracy, as well as training. To mitigate this, ESTA’s policy officer suggests that a collective European system would drive costs down whilst improving safety.
On ESTA’s progress towards establishing the European Crane Operators Licence (ECOL) and the recently announced European Transport Operators Licence (ETOL), Florez commented: “I think they are fantastic initiatives, and I have been very supportive of this work for many years. They are a route to ensure that we have a safe and attractive industry with common requirements across the European Union – which despite the word union does not always operate as if it is united.”
He also suggested that the introduction of widely supported qualifications will help the industry in its efforts to recruit young people in the future.
Florez highlighted the negative impact in which protectionism has on the industry, predominantly shown by national organisations in their attitudes towards common regulations. “I firmly believe that protectionism does not help anyone at the end of the day as experience tells us that it slows the flow of new ideas, lowers standards, raises costs and ultimately the market and industry become weaker as a result,” Florez said.
“Industry and society are in a huge moment of change, both in terms of technology and politics, and ESTA will need to have the resources and expertise to respond to those challenges on behalf of our members,” Florez added.
Currently an administrator for Spain-headquartered Siladen Solutions, Florez also teaches construction and lifting, and business at universities in Madrid, Spain. He began his career in the heavy lifting and abnormal transport industry when he joined Mammoet in 1998, having also worked for Hareket, Royal Wagenborg, and Roll Group.
Last month, HLPFI reported that EU heavy transport reforms were being slowed by political uncertainty.
