Over 14,000 spectators attended last year's final.

Nine countries will compete against reigning champion Germany in the Stapler Cup's international forklift competition this week.

Three forklift drivers from each of the nine countries - England, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland and Spain - will take on Germany in Aschaffenburg, Germany on 25 and 26 September.

More than 6,500 forklift drivers have entered the Germany-based contest since 2005 and over 14,000 spectators attended the 2008 final in Aschaffenburg's Schlossplatz.

The sole requisite for participating is a forklift driver's license, but it's "experience, instinct and speed" that will make a participant stand out.

According to competition organiser Linde Material Handling, the goal of the competition is to recognise the more than 350,000 forklift drivers in Germany who are "pillars of the logistics sector" and to raise awareness of the safety and technical aspects of forklift driving.

Linde Material Handling spokeswoman Heike Oder tells Forkliftaction.com News that the Stapler Cup started as a national event in Germany in 2004.

"But as more and more [Linde companies] from Europe and even China held Stapler Cups, Linde decided to have an international championship besides the German Stapler Cup," Oder says.

The Stapler Cup's first international championship was held in 2007 with the Chinese team coming in first place.

For more information, visit www.staplercup.com.