Early morning Surprise for Pickerings HGV Driver

Returning to work early on Monday morning at Pickerings Measham depot HGV driver Simon Baines was undertaking his daily routine vehicle check as part of his legal requirements. In line with Pickerings safety and customer care he started the pre-use lorry loader check when he got a big surprise.

In the middle of the lorry loader crane was a tawny owl that had found a cosy place to sleep over the weekend. Simon would normally have opened his lorry crane to check it was operating correctly before heading off to deliver portable buildings in the East Midlands. On this day he couldn’t risk opening his crane for fear of squashing the owl.

As he approached the bird it didn’t move and Simon quickly realised it was stuck. He called for help from colleagues and Pickerings Assistant Depot Manager, Jo Bailey, quickly donned a pair of leather work gloves to help the rescue.

When Jo got to the lorry the owl didn’t appear to be injured. It was stuck on a slope on the crane and although she tried to release the bird it was sitting in a greasy part of the crane and kept slipping back down. Jo tried several times to manoeuvre the owl by cupping her hands underneath it but it just wouldn’t budge.

After several more attempts the owl eventually moved to a safer ledge of the lorry loader crane. Space was still quite restricted but it allowed Simon to slowly and carefully open the crane to give the bird more space to escape.

Initially the bird made no attempt to fly away so Simon and Jo moved closer to the owl to check its welfare before it decided to make its final escape.

Safety and care is very important at Pickerings and we’re happy to have helped a feathered friend.