Hiab searching for the best crane driver at the 2015 World Crane Championships

CARGOTEC CORPORATION, PRESS RELEASE, 2 JULY 2014 AT 11.00 AM (EEST)

 

Hiab, part of Cargotec, invites the world's best crane drivers to compete in the 2015 World Crane Championships. The winning driver will win a prize worth EUR 25,000.

 

Carl Gustaf Göransson, Senior Vice President, Sales and Markets at Hiab, says: "All crane drivers around the world are welcome to take part and compete. We want to meet and honour all the fantastic drivers out there with this competition."

 

The first qualification round took place during the Vestfyn Traekker exhibition between 23-25 May in Denmark. Further qualification rounds will continue in a total of 11 countries around the world.

 

The winners of the qualification rounds will proceed directly to the finals, which will be held at the Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham, United Kingdom on 14-16 April 2015. There, the winner of the final will receive a cheque of EUR 20,000 for the purchase of his or her next crane, and a traveller's cheque of EUR 5,000.

 

Hiab's President Roland Sundén says: "Seven decades ago, Swedish ski manufacturer Eric Sundin, who co-founded Hiab in 1944, developed the Hiab Method, which sparked a revolution in load handling that continues to this day. There has never been an international competition like this before, and we wanted to celebrate Hiab's 70th anniversary by inviting crane drivers to participate in the World Crane Championship."

 

The competition involves performing difficult manoeuvres with a truck crane in the quickest possible time. However, winning the competition demands more than speed. The tasks include toppling water-filled drums with a load while keeping the crane below a crossbar. The driver has to work carefully and accurately to avoid touching the obstacles. Mistakes incur time penalties and, in the worst cases, disqualification. The competition track was developed and tested by an extremely experienced crane driver, known only as "Eric".

 

"Our test driver "Eric" set a fantastic time during practice. It will be fun to see who is the first to beat it", says Carl Gustaf Göransson.

 

In order to guarantee identical conditions for every crane driver, only HIAB X-HiPro 192 cranes will be used during the competitions. With its innovative features, the HIAB X-HiPro 192 is the most state-of-the-art model on the market, delivering unrivalled performance, speed and precision, and allowing the crane driver to focus on getting the job done. If participating crane drivers wish to prepare for the qualifications, a practice track is easy to set up using ordinary Euro-pallets and water drums.

 

Please visit Hiab's website where you can learn more, download the competition rules and track plans and apply for the qualification rounds: www.hiab.com

 

Carl Gustaf Göransson, Senior Vice President, Sales and Markets, Hiab; e-mail carl.gustaf.goransson@hiab.com

Lotta Clausen, Vice President, Communications, Hiab; e-mail lotta.clausen@hiab.com, tel. +46-372-378138

 

 

Hiab is the world's leading provider of on-road load handling equipment. Customer satisfaction is the first priority for us. Around 2,700 professionals at Hiab work to provide high-performance products and services that meet customer needs globally. Our product range includes HIAB loader cranes, JONSERED recycling and forestry cranes, LOGLIFT forestry cranes, MOFFETT truck-mounted forklifts and MULTILIFT demountables, as well as DEL, WALTCO and ZEPRO tail lifts. www.hiab.com

 

Cargotec's sales totalled approximately EUR 3.2 billion in 2013 and it employs approximately 11,000 people. Cargotec's class B shares are quoted on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki under the symbol CGCBV. www.cargotec.com