Chris drives the truck for P J Lee, a Cambridgeshirebased agricultural contractor and farmer. The Volvo is one of a pair used on bulk tipper and curtainsider duties, while a spare Scania takes up the slack at busy times. The work really doesn’t spare a truck at all, with Chris currently running on the sugar beet beat – a job that many hauliers buy in old trucks for, just for that single task.
Schooled for it
“My grandad Cyril was a lorry driver and so is my dad, John – I guess my career path was laid out for me right from the start,” smiles Chris. His dad still drives today, his current truck being a next-gen Scania. Chris can clearly remember the time he first went out in a truck, a Scania 112 P-cab, with his father.
School holidays were all taken up in the cab and as soon as Chris was 21 he went for his HGV licences. He was able to get a job at local haulier D&R Hankins straight away thanks to a family connection.
“It was a great way to start out. I spent three days in the cab with an experienced driver then ran alongside him in my own truck. After that I was allowed to go out on my own. So many new drivers don’t get anything like that,” says Chris.
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