The only reason Brian Wilson wasn’t delivering as usual on his 90th birthday is that his lorry is in for repairs.
In fact, the Sheffield born-and-bred grandad from Shiregreen says even when he takes the day off, he gets restless about getting back to work.
And on his 90th birthday on Thursday, March 24, Brian – who could well be the UK record holder for oldest truck driver – says he isn’t ready to hand in his keys yet.
“I could pack it in,” said Brian. “It’s not that I’ve got to work. But when I’m in the house for a few days I just want to get back to it.
“I’m just carrying on. I would be driving today, if my lorry weren’t off the road.”
Born and raised in Manor in 1932, Brian started work at 14 in a garage before serving two years in the Royal Horse Guards, and after being demobbed he found a job driving lorries for Esso.
Brian with his mother Gertrude.
He met his wife, Mavis, at a fairground in Attercliffe when he was 15, and they married six years later. They have been married 68 years and now have four children and one granddaughter.
In 1954, his dad founded his own haulage business, E.Wilsons & Sons, and brought Brian on board – where he’s now been behind the wheel for nearly 70 years.
He was a keen footballer and cricketer all his life and has been a fan of the Blades since he was 12, praising Jimmy Hagan as “the best player I’ve ever seen”.
Today, Brian is still hauling deliveries across the country with regular deliveries to Birmingham and Leamington Spa – which he dismisses as “only doing 150 mile radius jobs”.
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“I have to go for a medical to get my driver’s licence renewed every year, and every year I pass it,” said Brian.
“I used to think the traffic was bad in the 1970s. It’s terrible now.”
Now, Brian’s family is weighing up calling the Guinness Book of World Records to see if he is the UK’s oldest lorry driver – but Brian says he “doesn’t want the fuss.”
As soon as his lorry is out of the shop, it will be business as usual for Sheffield’s longest-running truck driver.
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