The national markets of heavy lift and project cargo transportation remain sluggish. Accordingly development of order situation in 1995 has been sagnating.

Dutch and Belgian heay lift operators obviously have received benefits from liberalisation of the EU transport markets, but no to an extend as prognosticated and expected, accordingly. Flow of cargo has stabilized on a lower level meanwhile. This also relates to prices.

John Wetzels B.V., established in 1995, successfully engaged in a specialist market as independent co-ordinator of offering system package deals on Europe-wide and world-wide basis facing great response and acceptence by shippers as well as THLG members. Through close co-operation John Wetzels and Belgian THLG member ADM achieved advanced reputation on international heavy lift transport markets. This particularly relates to the French market, represently a gap in the THLG map of national representations, sufficiently covered by ADM in terms of language and marketing knowledge. Backed by longtime experience and expertise in heavy lift operations and project cargo transport, Mr. Wetzels within short period arranged several outstanding shipments in which several members of The Heavy Lift Group have been involved: Road haulage of six oversized castings of 110 tons each from France to England; engineering and road transport of silos of 6.60 m in diameter and 24.0 m in length from Belgium to Holland; disassembling of a chimney at supplier's works and road movement to new foundation with connecting barge transport and handling onto new foundations within 24 hours; combined road, barge and rail movement of two dredgers from Germany to Chelyabinsk in Southern Russia; several fob loadings of project cargoes in th eport of Rotterdam to Switzerland; special carriages and transport engineering ventures.

Demands on shippers' side clearly indicate trend towards contracting heavy lift, abnormal load and project cargo shipments with single partners only on the basis of system package deals including all service components and peripheric planning, preparation, up to reassambling of components onto final foundations. This would reduce risks and costs and ensures highly efficient execution of the entire logistic chain