FAMILY FAVOURITES

Most of my family have been involved in transport, and my father and brothers worked for the local haulage company Sam Anderson based in Newhouse,” Bill recalls. “I passed my test in 1984, as soon as I turned 21. As I recall my first lorry was an Atkinson Borderer 220, which was originally new to Safeway supermarkets. I started driving for my brother-in-law in the mid-1980s, trading as Plains Transport. We hauled steel from the Motherwell steelworks, using a combination of Seddon Atkinsons and Iveco’s.

“I decided to go on my own in 1990, and it was the company’s 30th anniversary last September. I started subbing for various companies including Slaters Transport based at Kirby Misperton in North Yorkshire. I also did some work for Cardiff Transport Ltd at Newport and even went across to Boulogne in France. Apart from Atkinsons we were using the Leyland Roadtrain 320 Big Cam.

“We’ve always tried to look after our drivers and one of them has been with the firm for 26 years. We bought Iveco lorries for a long time, and the local dealer Central Motors (Calderbank) Limited was