The Journey of Abdul Shakoor to Britain’s First South Asian Class One HGV Driver

He was born in the erstwhile princely state of Jammu & Kashmir on Wednesday 2nd March 1949.

He had four siblings. He was the youngest from his siblings. He was the only son. He settled in 133 Bearwood Road, Smethwick, Sandwell, England in 1954. After leaving school, he settled in 73 Osborne Road, Forest Gate, London in 1965. He lost his father on Monday 16th August 1965. He went onto complete an apprenticeship with Jessups (Romford) Limited and was employed by them as a fitter from Monday 26th April 1971 to Wednesday 12th May 1976 servicing and repairing Vauxhall, Opel cars and Bedford vans. He went on to train as an HGV driver, sitting a test at Purfleet Test Centre on Wednesday 7th July 1976. By passing his test he became the United Kingdom’s first South Asian class one HGV driver. In his 32-year long professional driving career, he drove across United Kingdom and Europe. He delivered for A. H. Newbury Continental Freight Limited, Dansea Freight Limited, Eddie Stobart, Tate & Lyle Sugars and many more. He delivered to Spain, France, Germany, Belgium and many more countries in Europe. In the early 1970s, he drove a car by road from London, United Kingdom to the erstwhile princely state of Jammu & Kashmir. On Tuesday 11th November 2008, a minor stroke ended his 32-year long professional driving career. He loved travelling and had many different interesting stories to tell and encountered many different people along the side.