i got into trucks cuz i used to live on a major trunck road the A5 near tamworth.i saw these great big trucks and was in awe they were fantastic and went to all these different places.as i got older i realised they went to europe and the middle east.every night after school id go up to the traffic lights and sit on the wall looking at the trucks and seeing if the drivers would blow there airhorns as they went by.i was at primary school during the early 80,s so my favourit trucks come from that era volvo F10/F12 scania 142 and my favourite ever truck the daf 3300/3600 especially the spacecab.there were still some volvo F88 and scania 141 about but i just loved the daf.my favourite british truck was the b series ERF i just liked the look of it and they were nearly always traditionaly sign written.i remember seeing one that belonged to brian harris it was red, green and a matching trailer and was impecabilly roped and sheeted.i also remember walking the dog up and down the road with my dad and seeing these big green trucks with edward stobart on and thought how nice they looked.a spotter in the making although i never joined the club
the first truck i remember riding in was an AEC rigid that my uncle drove we went from mile oak to harleston and my dad was in the passenger seat so i was on the engine cover and every time my uncle braked id hang on for dear life to stop myself flying thruogh the windscreen(the engine cover sloped towards the dashboard and windscreen)my dad worked at the paper mill in tamworth and smurfit ran it and the had volvo F10s which i would ride around the yard in with the drivers on a saturday morning.with h&s you couldnt do that today.in my teens we lived next door to a guy called spud a right character he bred wild rabbits with domestic and had 15 at the bottom of his garden aswell as chickens.he was a lorry driver and i went with him on school holidays i was in my early teens but id get up at 4 every morning to go with him.somtimes id not go to school and go with him.i had no interest in school apart from sports i lived for trucks and football and school got in the way of both
my mate spud.thanks to spud i rode in some classic british trucks the first was an 8 legger foden s80 the one with the big round headlights he drove for sammy harrison of tamworth and we,d carry sand,gravel,coal and scrap metal i remember being on a site with a load of sand and gravel and it were an old airfield nr lutterworth and we did no end of loads to this place little did i know once id got my class one i spend no end of time there again magna park loveley place .he left sammy to go to burt swift of fillongley driving a guy big j4t with a daycab and a 220 ■■■■■■■ we,d run tractors from massey ferguson in cov up to grimsby or hull for export and then load fertaliseror timber as a backload i got the job of driving the tractors off at the docks and it were great 
anther job were rugby cement out of southam and we would be allover the midlands with that stuff.one day spud got given a guy big j with 290 ■■■■■■■ and splitter box and it had a sleeper cab but it never got used as he only had it for the day but boy could that motor go and the hiss the splitter made was fantasticburt was taken over by bentons transport and spud left and he moved but he kept in touch and my final journey was to italy with him and my favouite
Great memories
As I lad I got into trucking by just being amazed by the size when on the A1 with my dad in the car - as I got older I used to cycle with my mates out to the A1 to watch the trucks at Wetherby or Ripon.
Spend may an hour watching Robsons and the northern/scottish wagons going up and down the A1 - Atki, Seddons, Volvo Daf etc.
Then got a summer job with a local haulier as a drivers mate and being fasinated with the way the trailer moved about as the artic turned corners.
Started to go out with a mate who drove - in Seddon 4 wheelers and then F10’s, Daf’s. My favorite is still the 111/141 and 2800/3300/3600 Dafs.
Got my licence in 1985 and have driven part time since then and had the pleasure of driving F10/F12 + 111/141 and all sorts of Dafs, ERF’s etc - see picture posts I have submitted.
Love the life but as I only do it part time cannot be classed as an expert but enjoy the life and people I have met.
You want to hang on to the feel-good factor of trucking because it wears off when you are about 95 !!! 
Got a few years to do yet but dont know what will happen after 2014 when you have to do this compulsory training as I dont work for a specific person.
I used to live south of Wetherby at Bramham, our house was right beside the
A1 which was single carriageway then, great for watching loaded lorries
grind past at the end of our garden. 
charles