HGV Driver Annette Stagg has been based at our Runcorn depot for a number of years. Over the years Annette has played a key role for the business and has featured in a BBC News article about life on the road as a lorry driver and also on BBC Breakfast TV. Most recently Annette was crowned a winner in the Extra Mile category at the Microlise Driver of the Year Awards.

We asked Annette more about her background and how she followed in her father’s footsteps to become an award-winning HGV Driver for EV Cargo.

How do you feel about following your father’s footsteps into the logistics industry?

I’m proud to follow in my father’s footsteps, because I now understand the sacrifice he made to provide for his family. Dad was always a phone call away from having to deal with trouble, whether that was a break down or an incident. Dad wasn’t always at home, but he always made sure his family never missed out on anything. He has installed in me that with a bit of give and take, and hard work, I can, and do, provide a good life for my family and myself. And I get to see some beautiful places – and some I wouldn’t want to see again.

Why are you attracted to the logistics and supply chain industry?

According to my mother and father, I was weaned on diesel. I don’t remember a time where trucks didn’t play a major part of my life. I enjoy the uncertainty of my life. You can make all the best plans in the world and it can still go totally wrong. I find detours can be exciting – you can come across beautiful hidden places.

Tell us one thing you have learned from your father and his career in logistics.

I have learned from my father that nothing is impossible.

My father, Arnold Stagg started Stagg Transport in the late 1960s, he was a very caring and thoughtful boss and, no, I’m not biased! Dad made sure his drivers’ welfare was paramount. If they messed up, they knew about it, but if something bad happened he looked after them. One driver was in an accident and dad gave my mother’s car to the driver’s wife so she could visit her husband in hospital and their children moved into our home and stayed with us for a few months. Dad was a master of diversification, from carrying live chickens to turfing and supporting horse show jumping. I grew up with the people like Harvey Smith – the ultimate show jumper – and Lady Bibby, who gave me my first kitten. I believe haulage is the best that life can be. It’s funny, hard, rewarding and exasperating all at the same time. My father never ever wanted me to be a trucker, he spent a fortune on sending me to a boarding school for young ladies. However, I’m stubborn and trucking is in my blood, I’m proud of my career and I believe I have made my father proud too. There’s nothing better than the open roads!

I still encounter people who recognise the name Stagg and they say ‘I know Stagg Transport’, or ‘my father worked for Mr Stagg’. I still meet some of dad’s old drivers and everyone is proud to have worked for him.

But I will never forget the driver who will be nameless (although I do remember) who crashed a truck and l never got my birthday present because dad had to buy a new truck.

Transport is a way of life, love it or hate it. Nothing moves without trucks.