“The sun never sets on a long distance lorry driver” – This was a famous quote from a well known documentary. It applies to truckers of all size trucks. With the massive memory trip I’m on at the moment and with the response to the blog on Sunday, it made me think of the hours we’ve all put in in days gone by when we could get away with it. Far easier to click up mega mileages the further back in time we go. Less traffic even 10 years ago, higher speeds, lack of speed limiters, easier ways to bend the rules, we all did it and I’d be surprised at anyone who says they haven’t at least once.

Based in Braintree on the A120, at the time about 25 minutes from the M11, I was quite well connected to the motorway network which meant I could spend a fair percentage of my driving time at cruising speed. In fact the worst part of any trip was always the bit from the M11 back to Braintree on the old A120. Anyway an earlier start, beat the traffic to the M11 and I was off. I used to work a days work out at an average of 60mph, so in 4.5 hours driving I’d plan to do a max of 270 miles, make sense?? 270 miles from Braintree covers a fairly decent swathe of the UK. Proof in the pudding was the job I did to Carmarthen. Braintree to Carmarthen is 265ish miles or there about’s, so in my head possible to get there and back in a day. All I needed to do was average just over 60mph. Priced the job up as empty back and if I remember rightly I did it 3, 4 or 5 times I think. I dare say I did a 10 hour day or two but not having a speed limiter is what made it.

Thinking of other decent days out I can remember there were plenty and I’m not trumpet blowing in anyway, just remembering the love of driving!

Braintree – Exeter – Birmingham – Braintree. Quoted as empty back jobs to both destinations but they just about fitted on together. Saves a day in the week which meant another job could be done.

Braintree – Larkhall – Newcastle-Upon-Tyne – Barton Park Lorry Park. That was a busy day. Full load of sunbeds to Larkhall (Always priced empty back) then load lead rolls for home delivery from David Park Transport in Newcastle and then an hour back down the road to Barton Park truck park near the A1 A66 split at Scotch Corner.

I’m sure there were a few day trips to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, which again is a fair day out.

Come on, I want your genuine memories of long days behind the wheel. I am well aware of the days the international drivers put in during the 70’s and 80’s and I spent a very genuine afternoon with a couple of very well known Irishman who genuinely blew my mind with what they got done in a week to and from Belfast. If you can keep the anecdotes to your early days in the fleets little flyer, that’d be awesome, but big truck stories are always allowed. Just don’t turn them into a Fisherman’s Tale – “It was this big!!”. Leave your comments below or you can always email me with photos.

Why the title of this blog you ask? It’s a sticker I had made up and had on the inside of my drivers door in a few of my trucks.