The man who worked for drivers
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AN UNKIND fate decreed the sudden death of Gerry Aston at the moment when the Lorry Driver of the Year Competition, which he had nurtured for 32 years, was beginning a third phase in its career. As a working president he was a key figure in the disengagement of the competition from sponsorship by Commercial Motor and in making new arrangements for financial backing,
His last official duty was to conduct the first general meeting of the new Lorry Driver of the Year Association on March 21. It was the conclusion of half a lifetime of tireless work. He was the original clerk of the course and he laid the foundation of the tests that continue to this day.
Gerry was an enthusiastic supporter of motor and equestrian sports as well as of the lorry driver competition. He shared with Ron Boyce, chairman of the national council, thil none-too-common distinction of being a haulier who in matters of road safety put his enErgies where his mouth was.