Short Back and Sheard – Dale wins Driver CPC competition

5 December 2022

How many HGV drivers do you know who, alongside navigating a truck and its load, can do you a decent haircut? Not many. But Yorkshireman Dale Sheard – winner of Driver Hire Training’s Driver CPC competition, can. He’s been driving professionally for the best part of a decade, learning his road transport ropes in the cab of a 7.5 tonner on multi-drop work for Yodel. He recently upgraded his licence to Category C+E.

But that’s only the start of the story, because Dale has got through quite a lot of life in his 44 years. “I was brought up in a children’s home,” says Dale. “I left school with no qualifications and, when I was in my teens, I got into a bit of trouble. Luckily, I had a wake-up call and decided it was time to do something positive with my life.”

Which he did. Dale got himself into college and trained to be a barber, a job he did for about 15 years. “I had a friend who worked at Yodel. He told me they were looking for Christmas temps. I ended up staying there for five years.”

To widen his experience in his new career, Dale moved to a local driver agency. “They really looked after me,” Dale continues. “They helped me get my category C+E licence and keep me busy. I absolutely love driving for a living and wish I’d started earlier in my life. For a start, there’s so much variety. Today I’m delivering machinery; last week I was multi-dropping pharmaceuticals. Once you’re in the cab, effectively you’re you own boss. I’ve discovered that I really hate being stuck in a building all day. We live in a beautiful country, and I get to see it. I mean, what could be better than getting paid to have a break, sitting in your cab, enjoying a chip buttie whilst looking at some lovely countryside”.

If you’d like to learn about Driver CPC training, or be like Dale and gain your HGV licence, call us on 0808 178 9977 or chat to one of our agents right now.