Without a doubt, self-employed HGV drivers are the ones responsible for keeping the entire economy moving. HGVs are solely responsible for ensuring that different businesses and customers around the country always have access to the goods that they need from suppliers they trust. Just about everywhere you look, you’ll see an HGV coming or going as they transport products from one location to another.
These drivers work tirelessly 24/7 for the entire year. But did you ever wonder what happened before HGVs? HGVs are widely considered a rather modernised invention. In the past, carts pulled by horses, and even small vehicles were used to transport small portions of goods along service roads. They usually travelled up and down the entire country during their mission.
But where did we get the idea of and HGV from? Back in the 1900s, the lorry was born. In that portion of time, most viewed it as a very undesirable job. This was due to the fact that most of the journey was very uncomfortable. The brought journey was mainly because of the solid rubber tires that were used making the journey bumpy and critically rough.
However, around 1912, the pneumatic tire was invented which made drivers more comfortable on long commutes. The best part of new tires is that it made drivers move faster and also contributed to freighting and shipping services being faster than ever. One small innovative feature made quite a huge impact on the entire industry as it is today.
Another influencing factor in the journey comes from America. Some years later in 1916, the Seattle Chamber of Commerce showcased a demonstration where a drive and a truck were sponsored and made to travel from Seattle to NY. In essence, the trip was done to bring light to the new highways that were being built as well as the trucks. Little did everyone know, both were going to completely revolutionize the entire industry.
If most didn’t jump on this new trend, they would surely be left behind. The entire trip took just 31 days to complete and at the time was considered to be a huge success. Later in the 1920s, everyone was hit with the Illumination Impact.
This era in time brought about the headlights and they were hardly ever found on HGVs. However, the 1920s brought them and soon after they become mandatory. While it might not seem like much, it completely changed the present haulage sector.
Due to this, HGVs weren’t forced to drive only in the daylight hours anymore and they could freely travel at night. This then reduced the length of time to travel on their journey. All of this led to things speeding up even more. However, this increased the demand forcing or rather revolutionising the entire industry even more.
Besides the lights, the 1920s also saw the invention of the 5th wheel. However, HGVs were now being fitted with an additional wheel to speed up the entire ordeal. When combined with electric lights, they automatically became more efficient.
As a result of these two, small but big changes, the industry demand rapidly grew. This also led to an increase in jobs and even the construction of new routes being planned and developed. Businesses were even also forced to advance to keep up with their rivals.
In essence, HGVs drove the UK’s economy and it was responsible for making it solid. When combined with the addition of new roads, the 1930s saw over 329000 HGVs being registered. Fast forward to today, the industry has drastically improved.
