Missing The Old Days…

Two days back on the road and the old longings resurface. By trucking standards the trip was modest: leaving Essex on a Tuesday morning for a meeting in Wellingborough, then pushing on through the afternoon to Tankersley, the village wedged between Sheffield and Barnsley. A day on a training course followed, and by half past four the next afternoon the return leg to Essex was under way. Now the cab is parked in a familiar old lay-by near Duxford, with a McDonald’s that feels thoroughly earned.

The pull of the road

All the way north and all the way back, one thought kept returning: what it would be like to be back behind the wheel properly, perhaps even running over to the Continent like the early days. The affection for driving and for the open road simply refuses to fade. Even with the jams, the sunset seen from the A1 as it unfolded stage by stage more than made up for the delays.

There is no pretending that today’s traffic does not wear you down when it is part of the daily routine. But anyone who spends most of their working life inside the same four walls might understand the trade-off.

A tempting proposition

A tidy example of the newer version of the MAN featured here is currently for sale in Germany. All it would take is steady work running down to the south of France, Spain or wherever the loads lead, and everything would fall into place. The advice to anyone on the road who still enjoys it is straightforward: do not give it up. It is a lifestyle, and it stays with you whatever else you end up doing.

The present job offers a good work-life balance and the chance to watch the children grow up, which counts for a great deal. Even so, the pair will both be teenagers before long, and at that point they will barely notice their own shadows, let alone who else is in the house. That leaves only the small matters of the dog and a bit of work to sort out.

Rose-tinted views

Rose-tinted glasses are a fine thing, and the romance of the road pulls harder than the Titanic pulled towards that iceberg. But the open road is the open road, diesel in your veins and all that.