Reborn Truckers

After a tragic accident, dad Garry swore he’d never drive again; daughter Louise thought trucking to be a man’s world. Hopper Transport Services is now on its third and fourth new Dafs

- Lucy Radley

Three years ago, life was very different for the owners of County Durham-based Hopper Transport Services, better known as HTS Consett. A father and daughter outfit, Louise Hopper had never set foot in a truck before, while dad Garry never intended to set foot in one again. Yet in October 2016 they set up a haulage outfit, by March 2017 they had their first motor on the road working day and night between them, and now they’re about to take on their third and fourth brand-new Daf tractors.

Louise always dreamed of being a truck driver, just like her father, but didn’t dare do anything about it. “It was simply because I was a girl,” she admits. “I thought I would stick out like a sore thumb. I just like to be in the background, doing my job.”

So that’s precisely what she did, trying all kinds of roles along the way – as a recruitment consultant, a tutor and latterly spent time at a distribution company in Consett, where she worked her way up from being an administrator to depot manager, with responsibility for a fleet of Sprinter vans. But these were all just jobs for the sake of jobs – deep down, she really wanted to be behind the wheel.

In and out

Garry, meanwhile, jumped in and out of transport a few times until finally – he thought – walking away for good following an accident in 2010. “My brother was involved in transport and drew me in as well, so I passed my test at 21 and went straight out on general haulage and steel work, which was the normal around here then,” he tells us. “Then I got an offer to go sales repping, believe it or not, and totally changed direction.”