I thought it was time to tell you a
little about myself, and of course my half dog. The dog is
not really a half a dog; it’s just that I have him for
about half a week while my son works. I sometimes think my
son bought the dog, a Border Collie because he thought I needed
more exercise in my supposed retirement. Unfortunately because
of pressure of work, my first contract run starts at 4-30
a.m. five days a week, and invariably I have to take up some
of the excess work load that comes in, which tends to be every
day.
Tomorrow for instance on top of the first contract
I have two other long distance deliveries, which if I don’t
manage to combine the two loads, it will mean calling in the
temp drivers and hiring another vehicle. All our vehicles
are fully booked for tomorrow, and all the office staff are
out on the road again. The subcontractors are taking a lot
of the excess workload, but I am still ringing round trying
to place loads. Unfortunately a lot
of our high profile clients insist they have the same driver
every time, which complicates things.
I complain about the pressure, but
I do occasionally manage to put in 8 or 10 hours a day in
the office during the week, and use the weekend to clear up
all the work I haven’t managed to do during the week.
Which brings me back to the dog, he is a Border Collie, [sheep
dog,] and came straight from the farm as a pup. He has the
inbuilt attitude that he must be on the go all day, he requires
a lot of exercise, fortunately I live and work in the proposed
new Bradford Silicone Valley, and we have the River Aire and
a nature reserve within a quarter of a mile, which is convenient
for lunch time exercise for both of us, with the moors just
a short drive away where I can give him a good run.
He has always travelled in the van with me from being a pup,
he is now quite an accomplished back seat driver. He will
sit up and watch the road, in towns as soon as he sees a speed
camera, his paw goes on my arm to warn me. He uses the same
technique when he sees the brake lights coming on from vehicles
in front of us, and even if he spots a bend in the road. His
favourite trick is when we are on the motorway, if we are
in the overtaking lane and he thinks we are going too fast,
up comes the warning paw and he looks at me, then the speedo
until I reduce speed. Unfortunately with him being a sheep
dog, by nature he wants to be outside all the time, and he
hates the heater being switched on in the van, which means
that all this winter I have had to drive with the windows
open. If you see a driver in the middle of winter, with the
windows wound down and wearing a thick Hi Vis coat, gloves,
scarf and hat, you will know it’s me. I do get my own
back though; the dog has his own HI Vis vest which he has
to wear.
Vic
Farron RFT
Express. .
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