Haulage boss jailed, and disqualified indefinitely
Pair "should never be allowed to operate HGVs again in the UK"
News - Chris Tindall
July 16, 2021
David Keeling (pictured), TruckEast’s longest-serving technician retires this month, after clocking-up 50 years of dedicated service to the Suffolk-based Scania dealer.
Keeling started with what was then Scantruck in the summer of 1971, as a technician straight out of school, just one year after the Stowmarket branch had opened.
“The first six months I was buddied with a welder, I assisted with drilling the chassis, fitting headboards etc. Trucks didn’t arrive from the factory ready to go. We’d always have about a week’s worth of work on each unit and there was a lot of fabrication involved,” reminisced Keeling. “When I first started, there were still some of the Vabis 76 around. The cab didn’t even tip over so as you can imagine getting to the parts was such hard work.
“Through each generation of trucks, each cab has taken that big step forward. And that’s something for technicians to adjust to as well as operators and drivers. The advancements in the trucks are huge. Scania has always been on top of its game; I suppose you might say I’m always going to be biased towards Scania, but I really believe it,” he added.
Last week Keeling was presented with a long-service award by TruckEast MD John Biggin in an outdoor celebration.
“Fifty years of service is a truly momentous milestone for Dave to achieve and I am delighted to present him with this award on behalf of TruckEast and wish him the best with his imminent retirement,” said Biggin.
