Hi there everybody, still plating at 70, even though i have to use a walking stick now 'cos of arthritis. Its very very rare I need a lift now, but good luck to all you drivers out there who would stop for me if necessary. 
Being on Car delivery, I use to pick them up regular, on one occasion I picked 2 of Silcock’s platers up that had just delivered chassie cabs to Lambourn for conversion to horse boxes. before they got out, one of them told me he had a tip for the gold cup, so I thought what the hell, and put £20.00 on the nose, came in at 8 to 1. yippy do.
rocky 7:
Hi there everybody, still plating at 70, even though i have to use a walking stick now 'cos of arthritis. Its very very rare I need a lift now, but good luck to all you drivers out there who would stop for me if necessary.
Still plating at seventy Roy 
don’t your knees get sore , you must of had a very good teacher 
.
Regards Steve.
Bloody hell Steve, thats an old pic, I aint seen Peter in ages, I heard he was living in Turkey now.
Since I retired from General haulage at 65 I have been on the “plates”,I use my bus pass more often than not but sometimes I am forced to hitch out of some of the more out of the way places.I have to smile at some of the drivers who make an obvious point of looking the other way before they will stop for me.I know most firms will not allow lifts but I cant be doing with the ■■■■■■■■■ who stick two fingers up , or worse still stop and then drive off when you run up to them, or shout abuse at you as they pass.There are still afew decent drivers out there who will stop.To those few I say thank you.
rocky 7:
Since I retired from General haulage at 65 I have been on the “plates”,I use my bus pass more often than not but sometimes I am forced to hitch out of some of the more out of the way places.I have to smile at some of the drivers who make an obvious point of looking the other way before they will stop for me.I know most firms will not allow lifts but I cant be doing with the [zb] who stick two fingers up , or worse still stop and then drive off when you run up to them, or shout abuse at you as they pass.There are still afew decent drivers out there who will stop.To those few I say thank you.
I dont pick up hitchers period, but thats my choice.
I would never be so rude as to stick fingers up or drive off etc tho, I always acknowledge to them that I have seen them.
Who knows, one day it could be me doing that job, and I wouldnt wish for anyone to treat me that way, It’s the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”
It is the ultimate norm of high morality in our culture.
Sure there are other morals by which we live, but this one phrase embodies our most cherished value: that we should treat people as we would like to be treated.
Hi McPloppy, Thank you for your reply, If thats your policy thats fine by me, I would rather have someone like yourself who speaks his mind than like some i have described,Keep ,em turning mate, and drive safely.
HI
Going back to the late 70s i picked up two chaps in Glasgow (1oclock ish) Staffordshire plates (RF) and i am going to Stoke nice chap me and picked them up.
We had lol,s coming down the M6 had a snack and a 45minuit (they payed) finaly dropped them of at Keele (little diversion) one of them was due for a shower
to say the least out they jumped tarar 3rd 4th 5th…9th back on M6 WITH pong!! look on my bed where one had put his carry bag AAARRR DOG CRAP off his bag. It was,nt till he moved the bag that the stink got free. I only had ERF A series with chiken box sleeper did,nt take long to nealy choke me YUCK.
Quick one now, i was in Bedford going to Luton did,nt know where saw a plater (XE). Vauxhall man “give him a lift John” and get directions, (1985ish) chat chat whats the job like these days bla bla bla (posh chap) Blardy hate it!! but nothing else around, (me) How long have you worked for then. Since i was demobbed from the RAF (37 years ago).Ithought to myself i might of tried somthing else by now ha ha.
I,ve packed in work now so don,t stand waiting for me, but if i,am going to a rally in my DAF their will be room for you.
JOHN
see ya later
Hi when the big firms did trade plating & giving the the lads a lift you made them money because they were all paid the train fare & most were nice chaps.
But these days the cowboys are moving motors for peanuts & relying on others to make there money .
I for one am not helping them.
You may be a very nice chap but most are dirty want to smoke,slam the doors & put there feet on your dash sorry for you nice people but get the cowboys out of your industry.
I will jump off mysoap box now.
Hi tribsa,Unfortunatly for blokes like me there are a few people on “plates” who dont care about who or what gives them a lift, and have no respect for their property, these people have not been on the road themselves. when I do get a lift I have every respect for the person and the vehicle Iam in.There is in fact a bloke who works for the same company as me who “I”
wont give a lift to,He thinks he has a divine right to smoke, and he thinks he as a right to a lift. Its blokes like this who spoil it for the rest of us.
If you read this you know who you are dont you PHIL
I gave a tradeplater a lift last week from Oxford to Witney. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t, just depends on my mood at that particular time. Sometimes I’m just not in the mood for sudden company.
I’ve hitched a lift in the past by holding up a box of tacho cards- more than once- and I have always had a truck stop straight away and I think I would always stop and give a truck driver a lift.
tribsa:
get the cowboys out of your industry.
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 
I would give one a lift, and i have done before now, but they mostly stand and wait for a lift in the most awkward places.
dean0:
I would give one a lift, and i have done before now, but they mostly stand and wait for a lift in the most awkward places.
Yes, that’s true. The secret to getting a lift is to stand in the right place.
Its often quite awkward to stand in a good place.especially on motorway slip roads,It means the people stopping have to break the law for a few seconds. I try to avoid that if possible, The police dont usually bother though its the plastic ones who want to make a name for themselves using what small powers they have that give you trouble.
Tribsa wrote, get the cowboys out of my industry.For over 40 years my “INDUSTRY” was driving trucks,on general haulage, both in the UK and abroad.I suppose when I was younger I was a bit of a lad,but as I grew older and wiser I came to realise that what I had under me was potentially a lethal weapon, and needed to be handled as such.I am still a class 1 licence holder but I now choose to work as a trade plater. Watching some of the so called drivers today I wouldnt give them dog licences.The worst thing anyone did was give out licences merely on being able to go a few miles without hitting anything.
I was a drivers mate for about 5 years before i went driving, I had to learn how to rope and sheet, read a map{remember those, a satnav on paper}and if I didnt get my dollys in a line I got a clout round the earhole.We had respect for drivers over 40, because they showed us all the tricks good and bad.Another thing that as made the industry dangerous is timed deliveries. I have seen drivers with their eyeballs on their knees in order to get to a delivery on time,and then unloading in the back with their tacho. on break. no Tribsa dont talk to about cowboys.
rocky 7:
Since I retired from General haulage at 65 I have been on the “plates”,I use my bus pass more often than not but sometimes I am forced to hitch out of some of the more out of the way places.I have to smile at some of the drivers who make an obvious point of looking the other way before they will stop for me.I know most firms will not allow lifts but I cant be doing with the [zb] who stick two fingers up , or worse still stop and then drive off when you run up to them, or shout abuse at you as they pass.There are still afew decent drivers out there who will stop.To those few I say thank you.
There is no call for a driver to be abusive or rude when declining to give a “trade-plater” a lift !
Insurance (or lack of) for carrying passangers is the problem – in todays society where every knock or bang is decided by litigation no chances can be taken !
I used to offer lifts (I’m old enough to remember when you never passed a service-man in uniform thumbing it) also helping out on the “2nd driver” scam on a ferry ticket – but after the “Herald” the insurance companies offered written warnings against such practices !!
One last point – thumbing it used to be a “perk” for tradeplaters as they could pocket any train/bus/coach money given for their return journey, when did it become a requirement of the job that they had to ask for “free rides” home ?
Hi Big leggy,Thanks for your answer.It is not as you say a requirement, it is sometimes more convenient. some of the places we get to are out of the way, down country lanes and such.I will use the bus whenever possible , but sometimes it may be a few miles to the nearest bus stop.I will set out walking and hold the plates out in the hopes someone stops, if they do they do, if they dont they dont . At my age its a pleasure just strolling about, a lift is a bonus.
Rocky
I seem to have touched a nerve.
But I fit in your bracket not the other I ave to admit I took the modern test but cant help my age.
But most of our famiy have been drivers or mechanics & im both & have learnt a lot over the years & im still learning & not too old or cleaver to admit it.
To Tribsa.Thanks for your reply.If you read my post correctly I said SOME, not all young drivers are idiots on the road.
Like yourself I taught my son ,now44 the ropes.
The kind of drivers I an talking about are , a case in point, one of the last firms I drove for on General, had a mixture of motors, Renault Magnums and Premiums being two of the sorts. a young lad came for a job one time and didnt start because they gave him a premium instead of a Magnum, He said it was beneath him to drive one, he had,nt spent all that money on a test to drive a Premium.
In my humble opinion I dont want blokes like that in the industry