I go with my dad at every opportunity (because if i dont i feel sick about it)
i love going with him and do everything possible, ie. move the pallets about in the back or drive the forklift, i fill the truck up with diesel in the yard and get on well with everyone so no issue’s with anything Most people know who i am so i get on really well and if it wasn’t for my dad i wouldn’t be able to do half the stuff i do now.
i grew up all around going with my dad, every opportunity possible i would be with him school holidays and the odd 1 or 2 days i bunked off school as it is all i ever wanted to do, i can remember going out with him in an old F10 and block trailer many years ago, hiding under the bunk became a common thing when doing runs to RDC’s once in used to just sit on the chair n stobart spot 
. absoloutly loved it. and hated it when i had to go and find a job, i am now an apprentice with daf, thanks to dad and a work colleuge and in my holidays i go with him. SAD?? maybe but just takes me back a few years to when it was a regular occurance… i can honestly say if it wasnt for my dad taking me out with him i have no idea where or what i would be doing right now
when i was six i spent all my time with my dad he worked for sam russett in bristol used to go to devon and cornwall with a leyland super comet with more drops than ernie. i know i had a very happy time nights out in penzance or st ives the lorry park which is now a coach park down to the copper kettle for a meal then go to the pics or we used to go over to wales before the bridge was built start in newport into cardiff then up and down the valleys. if we were sleeping in the luton then we went to barry island, if we wanted a proper bed up to seven sisters where my dads family lived.as a kid growing up i had a great time mixing with some legendary drivers at the time.at the time didnt mean a lot but when you start to do your own thing then things you saw or saw your dad do work wise then it starts to click. both of my boys work in our industry one as a driver the other as a mechanic it was there choice could have done anything they wanted but thats what they chose. now my dad is knocking on a bit i have had the pleasure of taking him with me down to cornwall not the same as the fifties and sixties with the old roads but thats progress for you
i was going all over the place with my dad, he started as a van driver at thackary’s in beeston leeds, delivering surgical equipment, and then got a job at richardson’s of liversedge out of hunslet, travelled all over in the bedford tk doing scenery removals from theatres, then he went to pickups transport at pudsey, i learn’t to drive my dads erf artic at the age of 10, 7 years later i was yard shunter at pickups transport and the rest is history 
jayeastanglia:
and how mny of us when we was young pretended to drive the lorry from passenger seat or even when they was on break sat in the drivers seat and played with gears and being told to never touch the handbrake and tooting the horn…
or was it just me…
If Dad had his break with the dozer driver and other tip staff, I’d be left in a dozer or drott cab because Dad didn’t want me overhearing “grown-up” conversations…
I took my girlfriend (now the wife) to T5 Heathrow oneday as a convoy of us were running stone there. Typically one ■■■■■■■ had to squeel to TM about having a passenger etc. That would never’ve happened in the old days…
I remember the first ever truck that I rode in with my Dad for the first time, it was like a family affair with my mum and older brother with us. Me and bro on the bunk, me on the passenger side as I wanted to see what my dad was doing (Driving I know smart arse ) as any young lad looks up to his old man
First truck I was in was an ERF E14 with a 320 Gardner engine, pulling a flat with a load of turf in all roped and sheeted. We ended up parking in a layby and me and my older bro gave dad a hand to ‘ping’ the ropes to make sure they were still tight. First side was done, older bro went round other side and thought it would be a good idea to try hang off of the bloody rope 
I still remember that day after all these years, from what I can remember from when I was awake anyway 
First truck show I went to with the truck with dad was when he worked at J W Maeers driving a brand new Foden at the time, YA04 WXG, Had a 420 ■■■■■■■ in, We went to Pickering truck show as a birthday present to me as he didn’t go on holiday with me mum and older bro and G’parents. When I found out in the middle of the holiday, to be honest I wanted to pack my bag and go home I was that excited 
First proper night out I’ve done was in a hired Scania highline, Funnily enough back with the same company I first had my first trip in a truck with!!! (Prestons of Potto) and it was a night to remember, it was funny to argue with dad who was going to have to jump to get on the top bunk, I won and didn’t have to play high jump that night
Sorry but, through personal experience some of my best times have been in a truck and have been thanks to the haulage industry. I couldn’t say the same for everyone else but I could say that this industry can benefit a lot of people if you work round it to suit you!!! I personally love this industry, and in a previous thread (Dirk Segers picture thread) where one of the trucks I said if I could drive that specific truck for a living I would work for free (Providing nights out, grub and water etc are paid for) because to me the haulage industry isn’t a place where to me it’s a job. It’s something I’ve lived with, and literally is apart of my lifestyle. My dad has tried putting me off as my grandad has. But all else has failed. Kids will always do the opposite of what their parents tell them to do with their life. You tell them no, they will dig their heels in. You support them and let them find out, they might see ‘sense’ but that’s how I see it.
Like I’ve previously said. There are worser industries. I love this industry and a few other young uns have a love for this industry. But who’s going to follow on after the older drivers retire, there won’t be anyone! But each to their own. But don’t be surprised if you say no and they say ■■■■ off because I did that exact same thing
Cheers
Jonny
Back when my Dad was on General Haulage I used to go on runs with him during holidays or on the odd Saturday, I bloody loved it. I remember him telling my the speed brake was a machine gun on the roof and I believed it for years. This was back in the early 00s, when he was driving an old Merc and then the Volvo FM which was on Her Maj’s golden jubilee. I even used to steer in the yard sometimes and drove the ERF EC11 shunter. Then after running around in an 85CF he went onto Lowloaders with another firm and I only went out a few times and getting stuck in the top bunk of the hired R480 Topline and then trying to get to Scania’s at Purfleet in his time to sort out the ABS.
Now, H&S ■■■■ and that he’s on Tippers, I can’t do any of that now. I love lorries, they’re big machines, now I don’t necesarily become a driver, if things picked up in the future I’d consider it, going out in the lorry with my Dad was about bonding with him as well and seeing places around the country. I have a good sense of direction and can read a map with ease because of this as well.
Aand on some of his 45s, I did “drive” the motor, just “do not touch the poxy handbrake”
When I drove plant ‘99-2001 in our gravel pit, I occasionally let drivers’ sons have a ride in the loading shovel while I loaded their dads. It was something I used to do as a kid; One lad “got the set” ie had a ride in a shovel, dumptruck, drott and 360 at times when my loader was in the workshop and his dad happened to come in at the right time.
Reading the threads about going out with Dad in the truck during school holidays makes me jealous, my Dad wasn’t a truck driver. During this week I’ve noticed just one or two lucky lads out with their Dads. It’s a hang drawing and quartering offence at our place. I used to take my youngest girl with me odd times when I drove wreckers, but, to be honest, now I think I’d have to use dynamite to separate her from the flamin’ computer 
i take my lad out with me every school hols, my missus works full time and have no body too look after him,he is 12 years old and enjoys coming out with me and i enjoy spending time with him , my boss has no problems with him coming out with me although i am away all week,biggest problem i have is h&s at some of the places i go too,he is allways having to jump onto the bunk to hide when arriving at destinations,worst time we had was when we went to tk maxx for a delivery ,it took nearly 9 hours to tip,poor lad was stuck on the bunk all that time,luckily i had a large pop bottle for him to use ?
I agree with not letting my kids anywhere near my lorry. It’s a crap job and crap lifestyle that gets worse not better it’ll be even worse in 20 years to. I understand why some are so sentimental about the going with dad thing I did to but I don’t hold it in such high regard as most on here
I’d like em to get a proper job, as I do to when I retrain to get out of this dump.
after spending hours traveling in a km bedford tipper lugging limestone to consett steelworks from quarries in weardale[gods country) at about the age of 11/12 i knew the seed had been sown for me to become a future truck driver,even waiting outside the gatehouse in freezing rain as kids were banned from the works while the driver tipped,later when i left school at 16 i lived at carlisle my mum got me my first job in chicken processing plant live in ,frozen out i worked in the live section unloading ,up to 19,000 a day in crates stacked on 7 long wheelbase 4 wheelers operated by jw watts i think a long defunct haulier now,anyway the shunter driver was a workshy so and so and used to skive off half way through the day leaving the lorry youve just unloaded sitting there and no full one to replace it so breaking production on the line,so i used to change vehicles over as i learnt to drive tractor/trailers when i was i kid,to cut a long story short they sacked the shunter driver and asked me if i wanted the job at 16 being offered a professional driving job i jumped at it, out of the shed in the open moving the lorries washing and reloading with empty crates,and while having a bit of spare time asked the driver who collected the bins of by products to learn me the hiab on his artic trailer,ahhh happy days and all the summer of 76,today my 13 yr old son comes with me sometimes, hes not that interested in trucking, but for me theres nothing i would change ,when i was his age.
my firm are also ok about taking kids in the holidays/saturday mornings etc.
i let my son (10 at the time) have a go at loading the lorry with the grab on one particular job where the muck i was loading for a gas job was stored on a farm and no one could see us.he loved it(and soon got the hang of it-bloody playstation generation !!)
all these drivers saying their son wont be allowed near a lorry etc. how sad is that-their kids are probably itching to go on a trip with dad,ffs. if our industry is that bad or you hate your job that much then why do it?
find something else!!
I have already took my partners Grandson for drive around the yard in my truck. I’ll take him for days out in it when he is older and when the time comes I’ll put him through his test.
Do you know what? I don’t care if he becomes a truck driver or not. I do care that he can earn a living when he needs to.
A University Education is a wonderful thing, just ask the girl behind the counter at Starbucks, or the kid who trys to sell you insurance over the phone.
Br Al
Someone mentioned having a degree, it doesn’t make you a better driver or anything. There are some very intelligent people driving lorries who are studying law, but I think he will say, he is nothing any different to another driver on the ferry, apart from his choice of printed media.
However I do wonder why so many people spent an awful lot of money to drive a lorry and then hate every minute of the job.
I have been to some of the most beautiful places in Europe and beyond, have watched sunsets from different continents and spent time with loads of interesting people, some were drivers, some were locals.
It wasn’t just the continent either. I have made many great friends over the years in the UK through road transport.
If I remember correctly, didn’t Rodney Trotter have some qualifications? 
I am another that went in a lorry with my Dad every chance I had,Always wanted to be a lorry driver,was told to get a better job in an office etc,but I was having none of that and went onto lorries at 19.
Was chatting this week about this subject with a mate.As it was school holiday,the topic was.You never see kids with their Dads in lorries anymore.I suppose Health & Safety etc has knackered it for kids.In my opinion its far better going with their Dad seeing different parts of the country than being stuck at home,or roaming the streets.
You are not wrong Wheel Nut!
I have done a job this week that has took me along the North Wales Coast all the way to the South Downs. I would of paid to do it.
I’m old fashioned, I think you should have a degree to go into the Law or Medicine or be an Architect or an Engineer. Not press buttons in a Call Centre or even worse, be a Transport Planner.
If my partners Grandson shows an apptitude for education, I will help and encourage him but he will still have his C+E to fall back on.
To that end I don’t have a problem taking him out for days in the Truck.
Al
I too went with the old man during the school holidays back in the 1950’s/60’s and that set me on wanting to be a driver. I became an HGV fitter first, and then after15 years went full time driving. The old chap went ballistic, said that I was wasting my skills, but the money was a lot better driving. Nowadays kids are not allowed in quarries etc. I seem to recall a few years ago at one of our sandpits a chap had his Grandson with him and was told to leave the kid at the garage while he went to get loaded, well kids being kids the lad went exploring and fell over some old steel or something and was killed. Very sad, would have been safer with his Grandad.
Pete.
I was another youngster who spent most of my school holidays and weekends travelling around with my father , and it was more interesting to see the countryside than what the teachers at school could ever try to instill in me. My father told me to respect other peoples premises or else Id be on the receiving end of a deserved cussing, and one from him too !! Common sense and respect were the norm long before the
elf and safety-pins regulations took over. I can not remember any farmer or livestock market ever refusing my entry to their premises, even though there was ( and STILL IS ) a risk from unpredictable behaviour from farm animals . Yes, I have had encounters with such animals , but it taught me to be more careful next time. Maybe I was fortunate to be a youngster 45 years ago and enjoy the freedom of riding in the cab long before insurance companies outlawed this practise. To me , though , they were HAPPY DAYS of my childhood !
Having a picnic with my 4 year old
She loves coming out with me, and the boss doesnt mind, oh, i am the boss