Many would argue that the 1980s were a better time for truck drivers than nowadays: there were no cell phones, there was less traffic on the road, CB radio was all the rage, and stickers were the simple heart of truck customizing. However, the transport industry is constantly evolving and companies must adapt their vehicles to keep pace with the developments. As a result, vehicle design and liveries regularly change. Many of the companies around in the 1980s have expired and been forgotten. Most of the trucks from that time are long gone to the great scrapyard in the sky! David Wakefield has been working in the transport industry for over 30 years and has been taking photographs of trucks since the early 1980s. He has amassed thousands of high-quality images, producing one of the most comprehensive photographic collections of the time, but many of his photographs have never been previously published. In this vivid compilation, Nick Ireland has collated 300 of David's images from the 1980s in order to preserve them and make them publicly available for the first time. The book features trucks from all over the world, and it is a must-have for current and former truckers who will enjoy being reminded of 'the good old days, ' as well as anyone else with an interest in transport history. [Subject: History, Transportation, Photography
A propos de l’auteur
Born in 1968, Nick was first taken around England at the age of six in a Scania 111 by a neighbour and this gave him his love of trucks. A truck driving career was all he ever aspired to and as soon as his careers officer at school told him the only qualifications I needed apart from a HGV licence was a good basic education, he knew what my future would be and settled into school not worrying about how well he would do.However as he dreamed of doing international trucking he took private German lessons as he had learned it was a widely understood language across Europe.After a spell working on fishing boats and a short time in construction whilst waiting for his 21st birthday when he could take his HGV test, Nick started his own light haulage business with a Renault Traffic van and ran this for four years until the opportunity to take his HGV test and go and work in his father in law s haulage company arose driving a rigid Volvo F6.Unfortunately this only lasted a year and Nick moved to another local company to do international work in a proper truck , Felgate Services. It was here that Nick truly learned what European work of that time was really like, and it seemed he was never at home.Next Nick joined the huge Dutch firm Frans Maas and drove trucks on the Toyota contract they held, providing the production line in Derby with exactly timed delivery of parts from all over Europe. After four years on the road he moved into the traffic office, and four years later had become transport manager.In 2006 many of the firm's emplyees were made redundant when the company was taken over and Nick went back to truck driving, this time for Rock & Roll Trucking companies Transam Trucking, Redburn Transfer and Edwin Shirley. He also started driving for the Mclaren Formula 1 racing team still enjoys all of these jobs today.