Gift horses

Simon Sargent’s trucking business had an extraordinarily lucky beginning – he won a Leyland Roadtrain in a TRUCK magazine competition

- Bob Beech

Luck often plays a big part in the success of a business. A touch of good fortune can give a small business the spur it requires to expand and take the next step in its development. Magazine readers with long memories might just recall the name Simon Sargent, the lucky winner of a competition in the much-missed magazine TRUCK, the spiritual forefather of T&D.

TRUCK burst onto the scene in 1974 and completely changed the transport magazine world. Until then, the established publications took a cautious, traditional approach. TRUCK blew this apart, with a punchy style, full-page colour pictures, detailed road tests from founding editor Pat Kennett and features from around the world.

What a prize!

The mag gained a big following and a few years after its launch staged an annual competition with a brand-new truck as the prize, entrants having to answer a series of detailed questions spread over a couple of issues.

The first year saw a 13-ton gross Saviem (a forerunner of Renault) given away, the next year it was a 16-ton Mercedes-Benz and in 1982 TRUCK went up the weight scale with a new Leyland Roadtrain 4x2 tractor unit. Leyland, heavily promoting its new truck range, was willing to give away a new Cumminspowered sleeper cab tractor.

Atherstone, Warwickshire-based Simon Sargent had started his fledgling road transport operation a couple of years earlier when he was just in his teens and by this time was running a 3.5-tonner and 7.5-tonner on express delivery work. With his 21st birthday approaching, he was looking to take his Class 1 HGV test, the intention being to move up the weight scale as and when he could afford a suitable vehicle.

Life-changer