DRIVING AMBITION
Page 36
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• Linda Turvey's ambition of becoming an overnight truck driver took a big step nearer fruition when she won a free HGV class one driver course in a Commercial Motor competition last year.
Since passing her test in November, she has moved from her job as a night sorter to take over as the yard shunter at the Lynx Express depot in Muswell Hill, North London. She has since applied for an HGV1 driving job and has taken a day's drawbar course as well as the Lynx threeday assessment where she achieved seven out of 10 'A' grades.
RELIEF WORK
She has also done some relief work for the company, driving 32-tonners on its Harlow to Birmingham and London to Ipswich runs.
"Getting my HGV has opened doors. It is such a small piece of paper, but it really means so much," she says.
But things have not always been so easy. After being made redundant from a van driving job for Newsflow, she made several attempts to join Lynx. Even though she felt she was more than qualified for the advertised sorting job, and applied several times, she was continually turned down. However, she confronted Lynx's personnel manager at a company open day and wrote to the managing director, asking why she had not been given the job.
Eventually, Lynx relented and she started working there in March 1989.
Turvey, who is Lynx's first female night worker, she believes she was initially rejected because she is a woman. "It is terrible that women have to make a nuisance of themselves, before they are properly considered for these jobs," she says. The Lynx work involved sorting mail for the Department of Social Security. "Men always try to make you believe there is some kind of black art to these jobs, but there isn't. There is no reason why more women should not work in transport," asserts Turvey. She admits she has encountered less prejudice since passing her test: "No-one can criticise you. Existing HGV1 holders will not, because it would devalue their own job and people without the pass won't because they haven't reached such a high standard."
Turvey, who failed her first test at the end of October for failing to make sufficient progress, planned to do a course before winning the competition. But there was a year's waiting list on Lynx's inhouse training programme, so she decided to pay for her own training.
She has wanted to be a long-distance driver since she starting working 20 years ago: "My dream is to drive in a truck to Scotland during the night, with my border collie Guinness by my side and a red cab light behind me," she says.
Lynx won't allow dogs in its cabs, but she thinks this is a mistake. Not only do dogs keep the driver company, but they also protect the driver and the vehicle.
ENTHUSIAST
A motor bike enthusiast, Turvey has spent most of her working life in transport, starting as a bike courier for Pony Express. Although she originally wanted to be a fashion designer, she has never been keen on office jobs. This puts her off taking the Certificate of Professional Competence exam and becoming a manager.
Her other ambitions include truck racing and entering the Paris-Dakar rally. However, for the moment she is enjoying her new-found fame. At least two local newspapers have interviewed her after winning the competition. "It is just one photocall after another," she jokes. LJ By Juliet Parish