Welcome...
We would like to welcome you to the PDA, a website ran entirely by volunteers with a lot of help from our Members, who mainly work as full time lorry drivers. Membership is FREE, if you wish to join the online discussion please follow this link and register as a member of the forums. Alternatively have a look around the
site by browsing the MENU on the left hand side.
We also ask that you take the time to visit the PDF, a Foundation formed primarily for the welfare of Lorry Drivers, born through ideas put forward by a PDA member.
Make a Donation
In the future The Professional Drivers Foundation aims to be funded from within the Haulage Industry and from grants available. In the meantime we are striving to achieve that magical £5000 which will allow us to apply for full Charitable Status. Any donation
you can afford to make, however small will help us on our way to that and you will have the satisfaction of knowing that every penny will
be going to help a fellow lorry driver or their family in times of trouble. To donate click here and please give generously.
A Word of Thanks
The PDF would like to take this opportunity to everyone who has made a donation, however small. It is from acorns that oak trees grow.
It was your help that enabled us to make the offer of financial help that was subsequently declined.
When a family member, and usually the breadwinner, is hospitalised at the other end of the country it can be a drain on finances to visit
them and it is the last thing anyone should have to worry about, hence the emergency fund we make available.
Thank you all so much.
PDA News...
Truckfest 2009
The Professional Drivers Foundation were asked by the families of both Mercenary (Andy) & Biggus (Steve) if we could arrange for their ashes to have one last visit to Truckfest at Peterborough.
We managed to get them a final lap of the main arena on the back of Brett's Bedford, a lorry Mercenary loved so much.
This years Truckfest was both poignant and happy.
Poignant to remember the loss of two members of the PDA, Trucknet, OLT and the LDF Forums, Andy in an accident while working and Steve after a long illness. Both fought bravely for their lives, sadly both failed.
The families of both were with us all for Truckfest and like us, were happy to see the amount of respect shown as the Bedford drove aroundthe arena with both on board.
The silence, the hats removed and the awareness that there, but for the grace of God, go all of us.
This was followed by a short rememberance service on the Trucknet/Truck & Driver stand where Lucy spoke about the memories we all had of them both, and Donna (Steve's Daughter) reminded us all to be aware of illness and DO something about it early.
A massive blast of airhorns from surrounding lorries marked the end of a minutes silence, and glasses were raised in a toast to absent friends.
I had known them both personally for some years and I know they would both have loved to have seen how well attended this was by friends from all of the forums, standing in one place, together, in unity.
Both would have said that if they had not achieved anything else in the lives, to have managed that, was something they thought they
would never see.
On a lighter note, we have to thank all of those who made this possible for us to do.
Live Promotions Events first and foremost, for accomodating our every need, and moving things around to fit this in. They agreed to everything we asked for and even suggested some more.
Truck & Driver for allowing us to take over their stand and have the Bedford present with the ashes for the rememberance service. Sorry for the disruption, but in the eyes of lorry drivers you will ALWAYS be seen to be the magazine that understands and actually cares for Drivers.
TrucknetUk for hosting the rememberance service and Lucy for the touching words she said. I know how hard it was for her, I couldn't have done that.
Well Done Lucy.
Rikki, who allowed himself to be bullied by us both to get our own way on this one, and dutifully went off and shook a collection bucket when told to, started off by a generous donation by himself.
Chris, a Brett's driver and a PDA Member, who changed into a suit to drive the Bedford(probably only I know what an effort that was)
and who had a microphone put in front of him in the Arena, totally out of the blue, to 'talk' about Andy & Steve. He wasn't expecting
that but improvised excellently.
Thanks also to Iveco who provided us with an Iveco Flag and a model to stand Steves ashes on. We offered to return them to their stand afterwards but they asked us to give them to the family.
To all of you who helped in so many small ways with suggestions and physical support.
Most of all our thanks go to Andy & Steve who who made it possible for Lorry Drivers to come together in a common cause, put past differences behind them and be 'like it used to be years ago'.
They will both be sadly missed.
Dear Rikki, Lucy and all at Trucknet:
On behalf of all of us at the Professional Drivers Foundation we would like to thank you for the very generous donation of over £1000 you raised at the charity auction you held at the Longford Arms on the 21st February.
To say we were surprised is putting it mildly. Not just at the amount raised, but at the simple good heartedness of so many drivers and forum users, especially in these difficult times for all of us. We also thank Renault, Volvo and Scania for the auction prizes, and Reed Business Information, the publishers of Truck and Driver, Commercial Motor and Motor Transport for hosting the auction.
It's sad that the occasion of Andy's death should be the first major fundraising event for the PDF held by Trucknet, but knowing Andy he would have been enormously pleased. He will be very sorely missed by us all.
From: The Trustees of The Professional Drivers Foundation
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