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• A grand lot
Page 42
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A glowing reference to his drivers as "a grand lot" by a leading haulier is a welcome tribute at any time, and doubly welcome in these days of recurrent labour troubles. The tribute came from W. G. Allport, son of the founder of W. Allport and Son Ltd of Sutton Coldfield, at the Birmingham Lorry Driver of the Year contest.
Training comes first in Mr. Allport's view, so he employs a full-time instructor whose job includes sorting out the causes of all accidents in detail, however minor. Over the years the accident rate has been commendably low and has not increased, which Mr. Allport thinks is a pretty good record. While the minimum age of his drivers is 23, younger drivers may be employed in due course. An increasing number of young men who are keen and capable are keen to work for the company it seems. Starting on lighter vehicles, young drivers graduate to artics in easy stages, and in their first year on artics they take over in early spring so that they have had a fair experience of handling them when the bad weather comes. Around the age of 45 or 50, drivers normally go back to smaller vehicles operating on routes closer to home.
Mr. Allport believes that automatic gearboxes will one day be regarded as a must. "We owe it to good drivers", he says.