I saw a truck today with a young `un in the passenger seat. Probably about 10 years old. Dressed up in his John Deere ovies. (bless him)!
I remembered when I was a kid and got to go out in my uncles lorry. About 10 years old and from that point on, thats all I wanted to do. Drive a lorry.
Now I suppose that could be a good thing or a bad thing, depends on your view point. But there are not many youngsters coming into the trade these days and one of the reasons could be the lack of opportunities to go out in one when off school. You used to see loads out with their dads, but its all banned now. Like most other things.
Mind you, I used to take my eldest out with me sometimes and now hes............................a flippin lorry driver!!
i used to go with my dad moving plant many moons ago. But when i did my C 2 year ago, i read that the minimum legal age for passenger in a lorry was 14yrs. Is this true?
Been out with the other half a few times and did a two night stop out with him, which was quite erm interesting.
He took my 14 year old son out a few weeks back and that was a night out, apparently the lad is great with buckles, and he wasn’t too impressed when he got in the car to come home from the yard (felt too low down apparently)
My nephew has been with me a few times, including a trip to Italy a couple of years ago. I quite enjoyed taking him with me - he was a convenient extra pair of hands when chaining down the load, it was nice to have a bit of company on the road and at night he was an incentive to actually go and find something to do instead of sitting in the truck watching telly. My only complaint would be that he is all too aware that the top bunk in an Actros is superior to the bottom, and I lost the coin toss!
Sadly he is 15 now and is more interested in girls than trucks so it’s been a while since he was in the other seat, but it was good fun while it lasted and we still laugh about our antics on some of the trips, and his younger brother is starting to show an interest so I might have a co-pilot again soon.
I used to go with my Dad in the lorry every chance i could get right up until i started work. The only school holidays i wasnt allowed to go was at christmas when the road conditions were bad. Happy days
Used to go with my dad all the time, the last time I went with my dad well ended up having an article on it. Not been out with him since, been working around a month or 2 after it was published. Not been out with him since sadly
But if that was my last trip out in the lorry with dad, at least I can say I will always remember it and looking back at the article always reminds me of that day
Dad used to take me out a lot during school holidays and quite often would get a ride in a digger. It wasn’t strictly aloud but the drivers back then minded their own business. I’d love to take my son out when he’s older but there are too many 5hithouses on the firm now
I always used to go with my old man in the coach when i was younger, this I guess is where my love of the road came from & also a good geographical knowledge of the UK & a great ability to read a map well, how many youngsters can read q map theses days? Or even bother to look at one. I take my nephew when ever I can , he loves it, he’s lucky I guess that he’s being brought up on a farm, has a coach driving grandad, a truck driving uncle & another uncle who is a machine driver, he gets a lot of practical hands on knowledge and at 7 drives the bob cat to clear the sheds out & the land rover on the fields , helps with basics repairs on the farm & hhas his own calfs & lambs to look after , he hates school…
Happy memories, I used to take my kids with me, they loved it and so did I.
I remember the look on my oldest daughter’s face, she was 15, after I had backed onto a tight bay, she
couldn’t work out how I had done it, I don’t think she has yet and she’s 34 now.
I took my son on seven drops all round the south west when he was about 12, (he’s 31 now).
Everywhere I went,the staff were great with him, even Tesco at Chepstow,
how times have changed.
At one drop, he thought he would help by putting empty pallets on the carrier under the trailer and covered himself in grease.
Once they had stopped laughing, the staff took him inside and cleaned it all off for him. Brilliant.
I took my middle daughter to Italy when she was 13 or so, she spent most of the trip with her nose in the latest Harry Potter book.
We went over the frejus instead of through it and she still didn’t look up much!
I took my youngest to Holland only a couple of years ago, when she was 10.
Common sense is still in force in Holland and she could come with me into the warehouse.
She took very seriously “checking” the pallets of produce as I put them into the trailer.
(To make sure I put the right ones in, of course ).
You only get one chance at this life and the pleasure of having your kids with you and knowing they will remember
these trips long after you have gone is priceless.
Sentimental, I know, but true.
Now as much as I love truckin and can never see myself doing anything else, i just don’t get the same feeling being in the pilot seat today than i got sitting in the passenger seat of my dads truck when i was a kid all those years ago. Those were the days.
My dad ran (sorry still) runs his own business delivering coal me and my two older brothers would fight over who went with him on a saturday or in the holidays.
I used to love it.
Collecting the old hessian sacks when i was about 6 or 7 and my brothers trying to lift the 100weight bags and then in the yard helping load up with the digger and riding around with us sat in the bucket at full height lol not forgetting when we were really young playing sandcastles in the slack! health and safety wouldnt allow that now!
Funnily enough im now driving artics for a living.(dont think moms overly impressed but dads happy for his little girl to be out on the road) Got some cracking memories of some of his more unusual customers but wouldnt change it for the world
it always makes me when i see kids out in lorrys with their mum or dad it brings back my time in the hot seat with my dad big wheeling down to spain happy happy days i still went out with dad on my days off from driving my self the last time i was about 24 lol
when i was a boy my uncle used to take me out in his guy big j6 i loved it i used to look forward to his phone call to see if i wanted to go out it was all i wanted to do in the school holidays.I have two daughters of my own 1at uni and 1 in sixth form the oldest one wanted to see scotland so i took her up there but she never got out of the bottom bunk till 1pm so she missed most of it and the youngest was nether interested had i had a son who was as keen as i was i am sure he would have been out with me all the while i would have put him through the hgv test and now we could be working my lorry 7 days a week both of us doing 4 on and 4 off and at the same time giving a youngster a job and a income to save for a house etc
I took my 2 out on the buses and coaches they enjoyed the experience.This H.and S bull really ■■■■■ the fun out of life nowadays.I remember going for rides in my late uncles lorry and walking 3 miles back home,I was 8 or 9 years old ,dont suppose that would be allowed either.
I used to travel with my dad quite a good bit. Remember having to hide in the bunk at certain drops where kids were frowned upon. Although not driving anymore i found it had come full circle, I took my grandfather on a couple of trips with with me and i have to say, everywhere i went, the lads tipping the trailer were brilliant to him. Was nice to be able to do it
My precious boy on a trip up to Scotland a couple of years ago. I’d just split from my wife and this time with my boy meant (and still does) so much to me. We stayed overnight at Crawford Trucktop off the M74. We went exploring, by the river and up to the ruins of an old castle. I got bugger all sleep that night (single bunk), but it didn’t matter
and then in the yard helping load up with the digger and riding around with us sat in the bucket at full height lol not forgetting when we were really young playing sandcastles in the slack! health and safety wouldnt allow that now!
