For National Careers Week, we hear from Becky Giles, Director of St Mary’s Livestock Transport Ltd and TikTok trucker with over 970,000 followers, about her logistics career so far…
Could you tell us a bit about your job and the company you work for?
St Mary’s is a family run livestock haulage business within the UK. I am an owner operator of a small fleet of lorries. My job involves general day to day organising and running of the company, including driving, accounts and financing.
How did you get into the industry?
St Mary’s Livestock is an established family run business. I originally did my work experience at DAF, then I got my HGV licence and started at St Mary’s as soon as I could.
What does your average working day consist of?
My general working day consists of planning work, driving, unloading, loading, and lots of washing out.
What skills do you need for your role?
I need good animal handling knowledge. As well as my HGV licence and Driver CPC, I’m required to have my animal transport certificate which allows me to transport animals up to eight hours.
What makes your role important?
The movement of livestock is crucial to the UK’s economy and the supply and demand of produce.
What kinds of tools do you use?
We use specialist trailers which are designed specifically for the transportation and wellbeing of livestock. There are many different types out there, but I use Plowman Livestock Trailers.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
I enjoy going to lots of different farms and meeting so many new people. I also enjoy, all the opportunities of driving across the country to places where I would not even imagine visiting in a car.
Could you tell us about your TikTok account?
I started TikTok during the pandemic. I started off by posting a video which wasn’t even about trucks, and it did fairly well. When I posted a video of my job, it went even bigger and I kind of got addicted as I had received so many positive comments and messages saying I was an inspiration to so many people. I wanted to carry this on and encourage women and the younger generation to get into the industry.
I never expected to go to a truck show and get a queue of people asking for my photo and signature. It’s completely overwhelming! It does take a lot out of me trying to keep up with the socials and actually running the business, I have the ponies to look after as well.
I can’t thank my followers enough for all their support, I am still overwhelmed by how well it’s done and just hope I can continue to inspire the next generation because that’s what means the most to me.
What advice do you have for people looking to start a career in logistics?
When you are at school a career in logistics never comes up. It never gets talked about! I think it’s a great industry to work in but if you are unsure then speak to drivers or anyone in the industry. Driving wise it can be long hours and away from home depending on what job you have. But if you like to challenge yourself then give it a go!
What are your plans for the future?
My future plans are to obtain my Transport Manager CPC. I would also like to try and keep getting the younger generation involved.
