I drove lorries in the 1990s all over Europe. Gave it up and got a job in IT Project Management that has served me well and I am now sort of retired in my mid fifties.
So I got my HGV medical done, did the compulsory CPC training, and have just got a part time/ad hoc role with a local company driving their trucks.
This morning I was out in a class three, then back to base and my first drive of a class 1 in 30 years. The tallest cab I have ever driven, the floor was flat, and when standing outside was above shoulder height. Great fun. It was almost like I hadn’t been away - mind you, the auto gearbox is a strange thing when you are decelerating.
I was born and raised in Cyprus so I had to do compulsory army training. I used to drive tanks and all sorts of fun stuff in the army… Probably the most useless army truck I have every driven was the Steyr truck and I have driven a 1960’s landrover.
I haven’t really had the opportunity to drive anything that big for more than 25 years now… not even sure I remember how
I used to drive wagons when i worked on the airfeilds doing surface dressing.
I was 18, hadnt even tried to take me driving test at that point and i was driving everything from 7ton box vans thru class 2 8 legger tankers, and cement mixers and up to welded plant articulated slurry machines.
Admittedly i was only driving them on raf air feilds but if it had wheels i could drive it.
I finally wen i was19 got round to taking a week off work to take a few lessons and my test. Which i passed first time.
So i past my test on friday and the following monday when i got to work i was given the keys to an ancient 7 tonner that was falling to bits and was told to drive it up to holyhead in wales.
Which i did without incident. And eventually after another year of driving it without incident the firm actually had the thing repaired for me.
I’m an ex truck driver, from 1978 to 1998. Mainly music tours and events around the continent and the USA, but also plenty of general haulage throughout Europe and Scandinavia. I was an owner driver for a time, with a Maggie Deutz V8. Drove Scanias after that. It’s a different game now though, I sort of miss the old days but I suspect I’d hate all the over-regulation today, and as for auto boxes, cruise control and GPS tracking, well no thanks. Give me a 13 speed Eaton Fuller crash box, log books and a delimited Maggie V10, perhaps I’d be tempted to get behind the wheel again.
