March 24 - The European Association of Abnormal Road Transport and Mobile Cranes (ESTA) is to publish its long-awaited best practice guide for the use of self-propelled modular transporters (SPMT) at its meeting in Munich in April.
ESTA says that the new guidelines will help address the problem of trailers tipping over, which has happened on some occasions despite operating rules and stability calculations being precisely followed.
Clients had asked what the industry was going to do about the problem and in response, ESTA created a working group that included representatives from several of its members, plus manufacturers and clients.
The working group contained representatives from Collett Transport, Fagioli, Goldhofer, Kamag, Mammoet, RDW (the Dutch Department of Road Transport), Sarens, Scheuerle, Shell, Wagenborg Nedlift and The Works International.
The guide covers a wide range of topics including: lines of communication; equipment capacity, maintenance and design; design of the load; load documentation and information; operator and engineer training; engineering a transport; and work environment.
