just a quick question do you or would you pick trade platers up.the reason im asking i left newcastle today heading back to manchester and saw one with m62 on his board obvioulsy i was going his way but was unsure wether to give him a lift or not but didnt then about 5 minutes down the road it started pouring with rain and felt a right tight [zb]
i personally wouldnt,
sign of the times i suppose, anyone can get hold of trade plates ,and what if you did pick someone up , and later on found out something had happened to them , and on the news last report person was seen getting into( insert your lorry )… heading… you get the drift…
I’ve just given this some thought and on reflection the answer is No! but tinged with a slight feeling of guilt 
because I would if I could be certain that it was a genuine ‘Trade Plater’ but err on the side of caution, sign of the times i’m afraid 
None of the companies I work for allow any passengers in the cab who aren’t employees (for insurance reasons) so I can’t. Even if I could I doubt I would though.
Paul
i sometimes pick them up and whats more i will drive miles out of my way to drop them nearer to their destination if need be. the last one i picked up was going to dorchester, number ■■ High Street to pick up a car and i dropped him right outside the front door.
of course sometimes i am not in the mood for company so i dont stop but normally when i do they turn out to be interesting blokes to talk to.
Well for those of you that do pick up trade platers… thanks. My hubby is one, not through choice but it’s a job for now, and he really appreciates those drivers that do stop for him and who sometimes go out of their way to help him to his destination. He’s had some lifts where he’s enjoyed some company, had a good chat/moan about jobs etc, got leads on other potential jobs.
On the flip side, he too will sometimes pick up a fellow trade plater when he’s behind the wheel of a truck, it’s all part of helping out your fellow trucker, despite the rules really being ‘no passengers’ - some companies state this but turn a blind eye to it. But he does employ a rule… that if the trade plater hasn’t written the destination or area correctly, then he generally won’t pick them up as often their command of English is pretty poor which makes for a dull journey and often a lack of appreciation from the person being picked up.
a friend potentially saved his life thanks to a tradeplater. he picked him up and was driving along, chatting and my mates speech became slurred. turns out he was having a stroke. my mate had no idea what was happening, and god knows what would have happened had the tradeplater not been there and known what was happening.
i’ve got friends who have been tradeplaters, and would like to help them out, but like others have said, it’s a risk i’d prefer not to take.
having said that, back in 1990, me and two mates were on our way back to wakefield in a car after a day trip to john-o-groats(we did silly things like that back then). it was raining hard as we left inverness and saw two people stood near a roundabout thumbing a lift. we looped around a couple of times(we were bored of our own company by now) and decided to pick them up. turned out to be two australian women going around the world. we took them to a youth hostel near perth and had a great time. one of my mates kept in touch with christmas cards etc, but these days I don’t think i’d stop for anyone, even with two mates in tow. you can’t be sure what situation it could put you in.