HEIDI DAVIES: HGV Instructor
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Heidi Davies' mother wanted her to be a bus driver, but she didn't like the idea of being with lots of people all the time.
Today she is the only fulltime HGV trainer at Mainport Training at Pembroke Dock and has only had one failure out of all her test submissions.
After winning her Class 1 HGV licence at the third attempt Davies became interested in teaching others. She had trained at Mainport Training "and really liked the atmosphere."
When she was offered the opportunity to teach there, Davies "took to it like a duck to water". Nearly all of her pupils are male: "I've put one woman in so far who passed first time and is working for her father's business and I've got another woman coming in next week for her assessment." She says that after the initial surprise at getting a woman instructor they usually ask "how do we treat her?"
"After the first morning in the classroom, you're in the cab with the same person all the time for six days," she says.
Davies admits that the job can be rather hair raising: "You can't show you're nervous, but there are some nervewracking moments. We do a good job cutting hedges for the council."