TRUCK AND DRIVER AWARDS 2020 
 

Article from Truck & Driver Christmas 2020 edition

Young Driver Award – Holly Histed of Histed Haulage 

 

Words: Dougie Rankine 

​

'With her father diagnosed with cancer and the survival of his haulage business potentially on the line, Holly Histed swapped hairdressing for the highway and has never looked back.

​

When owner driver Stephen Histed was diagnosed with prostate cancer he faced a crisis for both his health and his business. With nobody to drive his Daf XF 26-tonne rigid during his treatment and recovery of up to three months, he risked losing business he’d worked so hard to build up. But his daughter Holly, 24 years old at the time, stepped up and volunteered to take on the driving. She passed her Class C license first time, and was soon out on the road working in the 16-speed manual Daf.  “I must have diesel in the veins as I always used to enjoy going in the truck with my dad and helping wash the lorries at the weekend. I always wanted to drive but he advised me to go and get a trade first as at the time didn’t think the haulage industry would be suitable”.

​

Stephen started off his driving career with John C. Wheeler Transport with a Bedford TK and then jumped up to a Ford Transcontinental and European work. He then got the first Daf3600 ATi Space Cab in the country before deciding he wanted to head out on his own. That was 30 years ago and his first truck was a Daf 2100. “I was fortunate to get a good start, as John Wheeler said if I painted my truck his colours, then I could subbie for him” he explains. This got Stephen’s business up and running, until he built up his own customer base. The company has around 20 customers, transporting all types of goods  which takes them all over the UK. 

​

Business rolled along steadily until Stephen was hit with the bombshell news of his cancer diagnosis. Prostate cancer is the most common type among men in the UK, but it can also be treated very effectively if it’s diagnosed early enough, which in this case, it was. “I had no idea, I felt fine –  that’s why it’s so important for men over 50 to get checked” he says. Faced with time off, and Holly going out on the road for the first time, Stephen could have been concerned, but he had no need to be. “I went with her for the first few days and I couldn’t believe how quickly she picked it all up she was a natural” says Stephen.

​

 Holly has made a couple of trips to Ireland as well “I was the only girl on the ferry” she tells us. 

​

An extra lorry was bought for Holly to drive, a 12-tonne Daf LF, which works really well as they can pick up a lot of jobs with it that bigger trucks are unable to access. What that does mean is Holly has more than her fair share of country lanes and tight turns to deal with. “It’s a really useful truck as it can carry six tonnes, but is barely any bigger than a 7.5-tonner” she says. “It’s an auto, which is fine but I do also miss the manual gearbox in the XF at times!” 

​

Just as Holly had settled into life on the road, everything changed in March with the arrival of Coronavirus, and all the problems that came along with it. She found herself refused access to toilet facilities more than once, but on the upside the business didn’t slow down for long and they’ve worked right the way through the lockdown and summer. “We’ve been so busy over summer, long may it continue. It wasn’t nice when everything was closed and companies could be a bit funny about facilities, but on the other hand the roads were so quiet – it was strange at times driving on the motorway and only seeing other trucks” says Holly. 

​

During Stephen’s recovery he took the opportunity to look for a replacement for the XF, as they’ll be needing a Euro 6 truck for the London uLEZ, and he’s found a rather unusual Volvo FH 460; a 8x2 tridem curtainsider, which they’ve been working away on over many weekends this year to get it ready for the road. It’s going to be one seriously impressive rigid when it’s finished off, and we were able to get a look at it when it was still in progress. Holly is as eager to get behind the wheel of the new truck as her dad is. “She’s taken to driving so well, I’m so proud of her for all she’s done in the last year or so” smiles Stephen. 

​

For stepping up at an important and worrying time for the family business, and fearlessly going out on the road in a manual truck, and then having to deal with all the problems of lockdown, we’re delighted to present Holly Histed with the Truck & Driver Young Driver Award 2020.'