Long, irregular hours at the wheel are often a big part of doing haulage work. The career can be incredibly rewarding in a lot of ways, offering a chance to work with a range of clients around the country and internationally, in a sector crucial to the functioning of the UK economy as a whole. But, those long hours can still be rough.
It’s unsurprising, then, that drivers are always on the lookout for good ways to fill their time on the road. While of course you can’t watch movies or TV or read a book, there’s a wide variety of great audio entertainment out there. In this post, we’ll focus on audiobooks, running through some of the best for a busy haulier on the move – from new releases and trucking memoirs to classic novels.
Celese Ng, Little Fires Everywhere
A hot recent release with a lot of buzz, this book fits comfortably into the thriller genre, with a lot of surprises throughout. Don’t worry if you’re the type that likes something meatier to sink your teeth into while doing haulage work, though: Little Fires also addresses questions of art, identity and, most of all, secrets.
It’s best to jump in without knowing too much about this one – just let the excellent narration from Jennifer Lim take you away.
Finn Murphy, The Long Haul: A Trucker’s Tales of Life on the Road
Narrated by Danny Campbell, this is exactly what it sounds like: a memoir of long-term trucker Finn Murphy’s experiences in haulage work, which saw him travel the United States carrying a variety of cargo.
You can get through this short text in eight hours’ listening time, and hauliers will likely enjoy the familiarity. For UK and Europe-based truckers, though, the book also offers intriguing insights into distinctively American experiences.
George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones
The world-conquering TV series from HBO may have ended divisively, but Martin’s ongoing A Song of Ice and Fire saga has many twists and turns all of its own. Start with the first in the series, though, as even seasoned show watchers will likely be overwhelmed by the sheer number of names, characters, and subplots.
Featuring a lot of sex, violence and swearing, these books certainly aren’t for the fainthearted. But at over 30 hours’ listening time each, they’re more than enough to get lost in over the course of many long drives doing haulage work.
Stephen King, It
A true classic, King’s mammoth 1980s text weaves between two parallel stories set three decades apart, focusing on the same cast of characters as children and adults. The kids first encounter an unknowable otherworldly horror over the course of a long hot summer – then return to face the same threat 27 years later.
This book is stuffed to the brim with ideas, touching on childhood trauma, nostalgia and growing up – while also featuring some truly disturbing sequences of horror. With the second part of Andrés Muschietti’s film adaptation due out this September, it’s the perfect time to get stuck in to this incredible text.
Even better – at over 45 hours, this will keep you entertained for miles and miles!
As you can see, audiobooks make a great way to fill the long hours you’ll spend behind the wheel doing haulage work. With podcasts, music and radio to choose from as well, you’ll never be bored on a long journey again!
Norman Dulwich is a Correspondent for Haulage Exchange, the leading online trade network for the road transport industry. Connecting logistics professionals across the UK and Europe through their website, Haulage Exchange provides services for matching haulage work with available drivers, and is now the fastest growing Freight Exchange in the UK.
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