Apologies to mods if in wrong place… 
Remember seeing this on the TV in the states and just stumbled across it online… 
Further apologies if its been posted before…
Click on link to: America Moves By Truck
Always good to see some positive press wherever it may be… 
Great Movies, does nothing like that happen here ?
yes it does!!! but for some reason the press (apart from the local news and papers in Norfolk who recognise it) totally ignore it. I am a member of the East Coast Truckers Club, a club that raises money for unfortunate children. Apart from the activities throughout the year, the annual convoy is the big one. Each driver is assigned a child for the day to look after so he/she gets a day out, and their hardworking parents get a well deserved day off. We start in Norwich and go to the Pleasurewood Hills amusement park, where we spend the day taking the kids on the rides and having picnics etc. Then we travel to Great Yarmouth where we roll down the seafront, and then return to Norwich. The route is lined ALL THE WAY with the public who turn out every year in ALL weathers, and Yarmouth seafront is packed with people who have turned out to wave at the kids, that part is particulary emotional. Unfortunately i missed last year as i had no truck due to being made redundant, but the year before i was right near the head of the convoy of 70+ tractor units, a proud day. I try to do it every year, and am very proud to take part, i travel from Essex to do so as i am that passionate about it. Every year there are about 70-80 trucks, the roads are closed by the VOLUNTEER motorcycle police ■■■■■■ riders and we have a great time. It is pysically and emotionally exausting, but to see the kids faces is something else. It’s not just the drivers efforts, but police, helpers, pleasurewood hills and most of all general public who line the route that makes it special for the kids. BUT, how many times have you read about it, or seen it on the TV? It has taken my friend Simon Waspe writing an article that Trucking published about the Convoy, and recently one in Truck and Driver about the ECT club to get a mention, up until then it has remained a ‘secret’, which has amazed me due to the positive publicity for trucks and truckers it commands. The people of Norfolk who are aware of it are receptive to our needs, and i feel alot of good has been done, but Hell it needs more coverage.
Dieselcowboy:
yes it does!!! but for some reason the press (apart from the local news and papers in Norfolk who recognise it) totally ignore it. I am a member of the East Coast Truckers Club, a club that raises money for unfortunate children. Apart from the activities throughout the year, the annual convoy is the big one. Each driver is assigned a child for the day to look after so he/she gets a day out, and their hardworking parents get a well deserved day off. We start in Norwich and go to the Pleasurewood Hills amusement park, where we spend the day taking the kids on the rides and having picnics etc. Then we travel to Great Yarmouth where we roll down the seafront, and then return to Norwich. The route is lined ALL THE WAY with the public who turn out every year in ALL weathers, and Yarmouth seafront is packed with people who have turned out to wave at the kids, that part is particulary emotional. Unfortunately i missed last year as i had no truck due to being made redundant, but the year before i was right near the head of the convoy of 70+ tractor units, a proud day. I try to do it every year, and am very proud to take part, i travel from Essex to do so as i am that passionate about it. Every year there are about 70-80 trucks, the roads are closed by the VOLUNTEER motorcycle police ■■■■■■ riders and we have a great time. It is pysically and emotionally exausting, but to see the kids faces is something else. It’s not just the drivers efforts, but police, helpers, pleasurewood hills and most of all general public who line the route that makes it special for the kids. BUT, how many times have you read about it, or seen it on the TV? It has taken my friend Simon Waspe writing an article that Trucking published about the Convoy, and recently one in Truck and Driver about the ECT club to get a mention, up until then it has remained a ‘secret’, which has amazed me due to the positive publicity for trucks and truckers it commands. The people of Norfolk who are aware of it are receptive to our needs, and i feel alot of good has been done, but Hell it needs more coverage.
How sad that such a worthwhile and positive event does not get the coverage it deserves. It always suprised me how little coverage Truckfest gets considering its size and number of visitors. Although I feel certain that the drivers involved with the East Coast Truckers Club don’t do it for the publicity, a little coverage would be great for the organisers to raise both money and awareness. It’s about time we as an industry got our butts in gear and started to put out some positive press and maybe improve things for all of us…
After a kid got knocked off his bike by a wagon near the village we lived in my lads teacher asked me if I would take one of my motors in to the school to show the kids about blind spots and the dangers of getting to close to trucks. My answer was of course “yes I would be delighted”. Unfortunatley the headmistress but the block on it ,and why ■■?..because she thought the kids might get to positive an impression of trucks. She felt this would lead to them slacking off in school because they had decided to be and i quote “Just a lorry driver”. 
Just to prove how ignorant we “lorry drivers” really are I wrote numerous letters and attended several council meetings until she eventualy transfered or was transfered.
So don’t be afraid to stand up for your yourselves and your profession…if we all did then maybe just maybe…
Here’s some more videos, trucks getting stuck in shaftesbury (as ya do)
youtube.com/watch?v=cdbzNWyPPbU