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Chou away!
Page 24
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Pat Nicholson, Iveco Women in Transport award winner, tells
Jennifer Ball that she was lured into truck driving.., by chocolate.
Nestle may have dumped the truckie from its Yorkie advertising campaign but this has clearly not deterred Pat Nicholson. It was 22 years ago that a Yorkie advert first inspired her to enter the male-dominated world of road transport: "At the time I was working as a sales rep but I had always been envious of lorry drivers out on the road.
"I saw the advert, which showed a driver looking out of his truck and letting the lady in the car below pass him. I thought: I could do that, so I booked my test. I went from having a car licence to passing my Class 1 test in just a few weeks."
Nicholson began working for an agency in Leicester before moving to March in Cambridgeshire where she did stints at Knowles Transport and OW Clarke. She then left to run a couple of trucks with her husband for a local farmer but the job took its toll.
Home and away
Having decided that she wanted more of a home life Nicholson took a job as transport manager at Howard Kent Transport. From there she moved to the office at Bretts rfransport, but after her divorce four years ago she got itchy feet again and was soon back on the road: "I enjoy almost everything about the job... the freedom. I get to see so many things that other people never see,particularly driving early in the morning. Or the different perspec tive thanks to the height of the cab and I love meeting so many people."
But Nicholson faces all the usual problems that beset truck drivers in the UK not least that after 5.30pm there's no room at any motorway service areas or truck stops. "If there's no space I try to stop on an industrial site rather than a layby for personal safety," she says. "But on average I still have my curtains slashed at least once a week.
"There is an urgent need for more secure parking in town centres on old lorry parks where you would be more likely to be visited by police and more trucks could congregate together."
Safety concerns
Nicholson says that she has more worries about being a woman out on the road now than when she first started the job. She is particularly concerned about the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency being given the power to stop vehicles for roadside checks, given a recent spate of drivers being hijacked by bogus police officers: "If I am pulled up in the early hours do I stop for a police car or put my personal safety first? I believe that many drivers will be reluctant to pull over for fear that it is not really the police."
Like many other drivers, Nicholson believes that the Working Time Directive will have a devastating effect on the industry and will force many people to leave it due to reduced earnings: "A lot of drivers with mortgages and other financial commitments will not be able to afford to stay. Many like working more than 48 hours and, like myself, would prefer an opt-out clause."
She is also concerned that the industry's already shallow pool of drivers will become drained by the new legislation: "This will also increase the driver shortage I believe that the government should take more action to make people aware of funding available for training and help the unemployed to train to be drivers rather than immigrants who may not be able to read our road signs."
The Professional Drivers' Association currently takes up a large part of Nicholson's time. The group was formed 18 months ago by a group of drivers on the TrucknetUK internet forum in a bid to raise the profile of the professional driver by campaigning for better working conditions and uniting the industry.
"A group of us became disheartened with the lack of respect that we get from the public now compared to years ago when a lorry driver was valued," she explains. "We decided that we did not want to be militant but needed to get people in the industry to sit and talk to each other about different problems... we should act as a nucleus for the whole of industry.
"We now have over 250 members but hope to have over 2,000 by the end of next year. The bigger our membership the bigger the voice we have," she explains.
Nicholson's role in the PDA recently earned her an Iveco Women in Transport award. which she is clearly delighted with: "1 especially liked being called Top Totty in the CM coverage as I am normally known as the 'flying witch'! It's great that Iveco is recognising that women have a role to play in transport.
"I have always got the greatest respect from other drivers. If you're prepared to do the job as a man does and not set yourself apart as a woman then you will treated as one of them."
In 10 years' time Nicholson will be coming up to retirement but she's not ready to give up the job yet: "If I do give up driving in three or four years' time it will be to devote more time to the PDA. My boss says that when I do retire he'll have me stuffed as a mascot," she laughs.