Keeping It In The Family

Mat’s Trucking Great Podcast

In this special episode, host Squeaky interviews his 11-year-old daughter, Isla Rose, to explore the family perspective of long-distance tru

Key takeaways

• Isla Rose highlights that attending her primary school prom in a decorated lorry was a standout positive experience.
• The daughter expresses the emotional difficulty of only seeing her father on weekends, noting it feels similar to having split parents.

Main topics

• Impact of long-distance trucking on families
• Memorable truck shows and events

Notable quotes

I feel like I only really see you on the weekend.

Conclusion

The episode provides a touching look at how the trucking industry affe

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:01) Hello everybody and welcome back to Matt's Trucking Great Podcast. It's me, Squeaky, and today I'm actually on my own as a host. There's no Matt, there's no Jim, there's no Alex, there's no Dazzle either actually as he's become a firm part of the furniture. A lot of you guys have really liked and enjoyed seeing him on some of the videos there that I've put out recently. The bit where he walks through... on the video that I've just put out of where we was at Gaydon, where he walks through the smoke and I slowed that down and he's got the jump leads in his hand as he's coming through the smoke in slow motion. That section there, that video sums Dazzle up absolutely perfectly. Always covered in grease. Always got some form of tool in his hand. Anyway, so this podcast, the reason I'm on my own today, well, I do have a guest with me. but it's a little bit of a special event. So the haulage industry, we always, as drivers, we always sort of look at the industry from our own perspective, don't we, as drivers, you know, sort of being away from home and working long hours, sleeping in a truck, only getting home on a weekend, doing your washing and sort of seeing the family and then sort of... packing your bags and then off you go again for another week. And I mean, that's just if you're in the UK. If you're doing European work, you could be away for sort of weeks at a time, you know, if not longer. So I thought it would be a really good idea. And I'm sure that you're all probably thinking that I'm going to interview my wife now. I'm not. No, what I have got is my 11-year-old daughter called Isla Rose. Speaker 2 (1:48) Hi. Speaker 1 (1:49) How are you? Are you okay? Speaker 2 (1:50) Yeah, I'm good, thanks. Speaker 1 (1:52) Are you nervous? A Speaker 2 (1:53) little bit. I've been waiting for a while, but I am still a bit nervous. Your Speaker 1 (1:58) voice has changed. You don't normally sound like this. You've gotten a little bit quiet. Speaker 2 (2:02) Yeah, I know, because I'm like, oh. Speaker 1 (2:04) Yeah. Listen, don't worry about it. You'll be absolutely fine. You'll be fine. Most people that work in this industry work away from the families. They work away from the children, the wives, and all that sort of stuff. So this podcast is going to be... We don't want it to be doom and gloom. Obviously, we want it to be happy, don't we? We want people to be happy. And the idea of the podcast is to entertain people. We don't want to sort of put people in a bad mood and, you know, all of a sudden they're driving along all day and next thing you know, they're listening to Celine Dion crying their eyes out as they're driving down the road. We want to make them happy. So let's start off on a happy note, shall we? What is, for you, right, what is the best thing? about dad not not well i mean i've got a massive list i could write loads down what's best about me what's the best what's the best thing about dad being a long distance lorry driver or being a lorry driver i Speaker 2 (3:00) think the best thing is like Like, you might not have seen it, but we did go to prom in Ballory and I did have a matching dress and everything. We went full out. That was amazing. I really enjoyed that. Speaker 1 (3:15) I remember, so let me just give, many people that listen to the podcast follow, this sounds cringe, they'll follow me on TikTok as well. Do you know what I mean? So they will have seen the videos and stuff like that that have gone online of you going to prom. Although... Just for the listeners' sake, isn't it, like Dad, me, and many people of our age, we never had that. We had a prom, but it was only ever a secondary school prom. We never had a prom in a primary school. That was never a thing. We were still snot-nosed kids that couldn't even wipe our ass properly at primary school. There was nothing like that. Kids now at primary school are so much older. than i remember kids being when i was that age i mean yeah Speaker 2 (4:05) like Speaker 1 (4:06) prom what just it wasn't even a thing do you know i mean i don't know for me that but being a kid at that age it was like getting a pound off your dad's go to the local shop around the corner and getting a load of penny sweets you know like just worlds apart absolutely world apart it was nothing like like what you are now and Speaker 2 (4:25) that's crazy because this The school did organise to do a prom, but then it was the PTA, actually, and then they cancelled it for some reason. Like, all the posts about it were gone. So my friend Indy, her mum, she got the idea to do a prom herself from a boy next door. Speaker 1 (4:46) To organise it privately with parents is what you mean, don't you? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Speaker 2 (4:52) I think that that was better than doing it with the school, if I'm honest. A few teachers did come, but no, I think that's the best it could be. Speaker 1 (5:03) Yeah, it was a good do, wasn't it? It was a good do. So for the listeners that perhaps don't follow me on TikTok or Instagram, that Iroh's went to her primary school prom, which I know sounds mental. And some of the children that went, they sort of went in Teslas that had, you know, the fancy doors, like off, you know, back to the future car and all that. Somebody else went in a Porsche and there was a couple of other little bits and bobs like that. Isla Rose wanted to go in my truck. We Speaker 2 (5:38) were just the best. Like, you had all these crappy little Teslas on the floor, looked like they'd been squashed by an elephant. In fact, they look like they've been squashed by us in our big fat lorry. Speaker 1 (5:49) Well, let's be honest, it tells us just a posh milk float, you know. But yeah, so we turned up. Isla also sort of colour coordinated herself so that a dress that she had matched the colour of the lorry so it was all bright purple and, you know. Speaker 2 (6:06) Honestly, it was so hard to find that dress. I shopped everywhere and I could not find that colour. Honestly, I thank Timu so much. Speaker 1 (6:15) And you might think, Timu? You make us sound cheap, Timu. Speaker 2 (6:19) I Speaker 1 (6:19) know, Speaker 2 (6:19) but you think, like, I know what you're probably thinking. You're probably thinking, Timu, a dress, what are you on about? But it was actually really good quality, and it was the exact same colour as the elephant on the lorry, maybe a bit darker. Speaker 1 (6:33) It was good. You look absolutely fantastic. I was super proud. It was a really nice day. Speaker 1 (6:39) And having that moment, I've been able to drive you in there as well and have people take all the pictures. And I remember some lady, obviously I'm going in and I'm going like full tones. You know what I mean? I've got the flashes on, the beacons going, I've got the spotlights on, the full shebang, everything's flashing, air horns going, the whaler going because they had an American police siren tone on there as well. So I've got that going. Speaker 1 (7:07) Got out of the driver's side, coming out to the passenger side, I'm getting all around, obviously trying to make sure that she doesn't fall down the steps and she's got a bum covered and all that sort of stuff. Although her dress was long, you know, I was still like... And then I heard some lady who was sort of stood there taking pictures and the crowd went, now that's Speaker 2 (7:24) how Speaker 1 (7:24) you arrive in style, isn't she? Yeah, Speaker 2 (7:27) yeah. There's a Speaker 1 (7:28) real moment for me there. So the job comes with some perks, doesn't it? So we've got... The prom, what else? Anything else that you think's good about Dad being a Speaker 2 (7:38) lorry Speaker 1 (7:39) driver? Speaker 2 (7:40) The fact that I've only been to one will make me sound stupid, but the truck shows are amazing. Like the TikToks I see on your TikTok, they just look amazing. With Jim and everybody, they're just wow. Speaker 1 (7:59) You're like Jim, don't you? Yeah, he's my best mate. He's your old mate who's been bullying you. And isn't he lovely as well? He like birthdays and Christmases. He always sends you Speaker 2 (8:09) something. Speaker 1 (8:09) He Speaker 2 (8:09) sends Speaker 1 (8:09) you something, doesn't he? But yeah, so Jim is lovely, isn't he? He always sends you even just a video, doesn't he? Just wishing you a happy birthday or whatever. Speaker 2 (8:19) Yeah. Speaker 1 (8:19) Top bloke. Yeah, truck shows. So you came to Driftfield, didn't you? Yeah, Speaker 2 (8:24) Driftfield was amazing. Speaker 1 (8:26) That was good, wasn't it? Speaker 2 (8:27) Apart from the fact I had to sleep on an air mattress and slept under like 500 layers and I was still shivering, it was still quite good. Speaker