Fittingly for Ireland, it was a case of four seasons in one day and at the time Paul O‘Callaghan met Leonard Downey, the rain was blowing hard across the glen.

Despite Leonard Downey being involved with his family‘s haulage business from day one, his passion for trucks has not diminished over the years. The 50-year-old who hails from County Cork in the Republic of Ireland is a big Volvo fan, a brand that makes up about 75% of the 28-truck fleet engaged in national and international transport. Having obtained his licence at 19, Leonard spent a number of years driving Volvo, Scania and Mercedes- Benz models, before being summoned to the office to join his brother John in running the business their father Dennis established. Dennis was in his eighties at the time of writing and still going strong.

Leonard loved the adventure the international work brought when he was doing that, heading for a new destination, admiring the sights and meeting drivers from different countries along the way. Nowadays, he is always keen to meet people in the same position as him, to find out how they run their operation and deal with the same problems he encounters. As well as rallying his Mark II Ford Escort, Leonard loves travelling to truck shows in Europe and cites the north of Norway as one of his favourite places to visit.

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