Images | Volvo CE crowns winner of machinery skills contest

Germany’s Bernard Vogt has been named Europe’s best construction equipment operator after winning the 2025 Volvo CE Operators Club Final in Eskilstuna, Sweden.

The event also marked the first-ever participation of graduates from Volvo’s Iron Women programme.

Vogt topped a field of 27 finalists from 14 countries in the long-running competition, which tests precision and efficiency using Volvo’s latest machinery. He narrowly beat Austria’s Othmar Pletzer and the Netherlands’ Arne Brals in a “Super Final” that included challenges on excavators, wheel loaders, and articulated haulers.

The contest featured tasks such as the “water bucket challenge”, which involved racing across rough terrain in a wheel loader with water-filled buckets. Every spilled centimetre resulted in a five-second penalty, in a high-stakes test of speed versus smoothness.

27 top operators from 14 countries participated in the 2025 final (Image courtesy of Volvo CE)

Another challenge involved operators using articulated haulers to pick up a tyre with a stick and reverse it precisely into a target zone.

And the “Nine Piece Puzzle”, required operators to put together a jigsaw perfectly using only a grapple attachment.

Among the Iron Women graduates competing was Liubov Kalantaievska from Ukraine.

Iron Women is Volvo CE’s vocational training initiative that equips women with certified operator skills on excavators and wheel loaders. The programme, developed with ETS Group and Swedish non-profit Beredskapslyftet, was launched in Ukraine to support national reconstruction efforts and is now expanding internationally.

Kalantaievska said, “Just a year ago, I had never operated an excavator. Thanks to the Iron Women programme, I now have the skills and confidence to compete alongside the best.”

The tyre challenge (Image courtesy of Volvo CE)

Volvo CE’s Operators Club, founded in Germany in 1998, now includes more than 25,000 members across 18 countries.

“Welcoming elite operators each year is a joy for us, and the participation of Iron Women graduates marks a powerful step toward a more diverse operator community,” said Hanna Jaschke, Operators Club manager at Volvo CE.

Operators competing in the challenges used Volvo CE’s latest machines, including the EC230 Electric, ECR58, and the A30 hauler.

The nine-piece puzzle (Image courtesy of Volvo CE)