Stuart Challenor

Cat C driver, Stuart Challenor, recently started his third decade as an agency driver working for Driver Hire Chester & North Wales. He loves it and has no thoughts of stopping any time soon.

“Driver Hire took me on when I was a newly qualified driver. I’ve since added HIAB, IPAF and MPQC driver skills”

– Stuart, Driver Hire agency driver for 30+ years

 

Category C driver, Stuart Challenor, recently started his third decade as an agency driver working for Driver Hire Chester. He loves it and has no thoughts of stopping any time soon. 

“Driver Hire took me on to their books when I was a newly qualified driver,” says Stuart. “I’d suffered a hernia in my previous job – a lifting gear engineer – and needed something a little less strenuous. In addition, my wife was doing a nursing degree, we’d got kids and my job had to be flexible enough to allow me to do childcare.”

When Stuart was looking for work, a friend had suggested road transport because there was a shortage of HGV drivers.

As well as flexibility to allow him to look after his family, Stuart – a newly qualified driver – quickly saw another advantage of agency work. It enabled him to gain a lot of experience quickly.

“It was a steep learning curve,” Stuart recalls. He’s since added HIAB, IPAF and MPQC driver skills.

“I’ve done a wide variety of work for Driver Hire clients including frozen foods, aggregates, roofing products as well as delivering access platforms such as cherry pickers,” he continues. Over the years he’s also driven a huge number of different trucks. His favourites are DAF. “A comfy cab and looking at the controls, everything falls just where you want it.”

Unsurprisingly, with his wealth of experience and skills, Stuart has had plenty of Driver Hire clients offering him a permanent position. “I never thought I’d be with Driver Hire for twenty years,” Stuart reflects. “They look after me, I enjoy the work, so why spoil a winning formula? In fact, I’ve been with them so long my wife got her degree, qualified, worked as a nurse and is now retired!”

If you’re considering work with Driver Hire, get in touch with your local office today. Thinking about upgrading your licence to become an HGV driver? Take a look at the Driver Hire Training website.