ZF Group's team celebrate its win at the Stapler CupThe 2025 Forklift Championship - the Stapler Cup - has been held at Linde MH Arena in Germany with more than 130 forklift drivers gathering from across the world to compete for the prestigious title.
The 20th annual championship was held over three days for the first time with events including the men’s and women’s championships.
Teams from 10 countries competed for the Team World Champions title - last year’s winner Belgium as well as China, Estonia, France, Germany Croatia, Latvia, Netherands, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Germany secured the title of Forklift Team World Champion with Netherlands taking second place and Croatia in third.
Benjamin Danker was awarded the title of Forklift Men's World Champion, with René Mahner achieving second place. Jimmy Vleminx from Belgium placed third.
Swetlana Lattermann from Buchholz secured the title of the Forklift Women's World Championship 2025. Regina Albert took out place with Marleen Sinikas driving into third place.
German technology manufacturers, ZF Friedrichshafen, won the Corporate Cup 2025 with power cable producer Waskönig + Walter taking out second while automotive industry system supplier Grüner Systemtechnik in third.
“This year, the precision, skill and nerves of the forklift heroes will once again be put to the test with a series of special challenges,” organisers stated before the event. “New additions include the ‘Duck Lift’ – rubber ducks that must be fished out of a pool of water using forklifts and other warehouse trucks.
“The golf ball challenge is all about balance: Here, a tray full of teed-up golf balls must be safely transported from point A to point B.”
Fan favourites such as the Kaup HeroRamp (an oversized steel seesaw) and the HeroTower (a 3m high foam tower) were also popular with those attending the spectacle.