If it wasn't for Prestons of Potto's proud association with the quiet, pretty village near Northallerton in North Yorkshire, then I suspect that most people wouldn't have heard of Potto. As I get closer to the village, I wonder how many people outside of the industry, realise that the Chairman and one of the driving forces (excuse the pun) behind the company is a woman.  After all, for whatever reason, road haulage does seem to be a bastion of male dominance.

Anne meets me in the bright and airy foyer of the company's purpose built offices. All around the walls are visual reminders of Prestons' past and Richard Preston's love of Traction Engines. Once we're settled in Anne's office - a room with wood panel walls, comfortable leather suites, proper rugs and, of course, more pictures of the company's heritage - she answers my questions

The daughter of a Cattle Haulier, Anne clearly has had haulage in her blood from a young age. She tells me that when she was a child she used to travel with some of the drivers to Birmingham. Therefore it's perhaps no surprise that she fell for another haulier, her now husband of 45 years, Richard Preston.

Richard's father had started Prestons back in 1936 as an Agricultural Contractor. During the Suez Crisis of 1957 the company used a steam engine to carry bricks from local brickworks to the developing sites of Teeside and Ampleforth. When, in the 1960s and 1970s, Teeside boomed thanks to the Steel and Chemical industries, Prestons grew too.

Anne married Richard in 1960. Two children and five years later she joined the company part-time, later becoming a full time employee and the rest is, as they say, history. With forty years of service to the company, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Anne's starting to think about retiring, but that's certainly not the case: "I work hard but I still enjoy it" she says, "The teams in place for me to go off and have some fun - but not yet!"

We talk about the rise of the 'Corporate' and what Prestons have to do to survive in an increasingly tough market, "PLCs want to do management but not general haulage" Anne tells me, "Family is what we sell the business on and our customers like the family and personal touch."

"We're developing value added services; total management from the end of the production line, through warehousing and administration to delivery at the client. All the time we look to be different."

Prestons want to expand too, "We want to develop our West Yorkshire depot, move and / or modernise Knottingly, buy another haulier in another part of the country - but only one that fits in with our family ethos."

As she's talking, I'm struck by how often the word 'family' comes up. As well as being family owned, the company itself seems to be a family with Anne the matriarchal head. The family Preston of Potto not only lives in the village from which it takes its name, it also believes in being part of the community. As local residents, they sponsor the village Christmas tree and lights, the local Amateur Dramatics society and have also helped raise money for the Church Bells. There's certainly something in all of this. Despite being a large haulage company based in such a rural area, there are no weight restrictions on the roads around Potto simply because there don't need to be any. As inhabitants of Potto, Prestons don't want to see lorries in their village, so none go there. In this era of 'Nanny State, No Ball Games, GB' it's refreshing to see common sense being used so effectively.

As if running a 350-employee company wasn't enough, Anne also devotes a great deal of her energies into other haulage related interests. For many years she has been heavily involved with the Road Haulage Association (RHA) and was the first lady ever to have been appointed to the RHA Board, a post that she maintains and enjoys to this day. With a smile she tells me that Richard often refers to her as 'Mrs RHA'. Hearing her talk so keenly about the organisation I'm not surprised.

But is the RHA a paper tiger or does it have real teeth? "As true hauliers speaking from a hands-on point of view, we can still influence Government to a degree" says Anne, "Being on the RHA Board I've learnt how the Government and PLCs tick, seen the bigger picture outside of general haulage".

Anne uses her position on the Board to help raise the awareness of women in haulage and also to attract more of them into the industry. "It's a good career" she says, adding "but you must be prepared to work long hours."

We move to broader issues, with the new Government installed six weeks ago, I ask Anne what she thinks that they should be doing for hauliers and, in doing so, I seem to hit upon her bête noire. "I see more and more foreign lorries on our roads all the time. It's unfair that they're not prosecuted for Drivers' Hours and Weight infringements and they have cheap fuel. Gets me so mad"

"If we're not getting a fuel duty reduction then foreign lorries shouldn't be allowed to come into the country full of cheap fuel. We need a level European playing field".

"We're far too legislated against, probably the most legislated industry in the UK. We are totally law abiding, the other countries appear to only pay lip service to the rules. It's killing the UK Economy".

One very recent piece of this Euroslation is the Road Transport Directive (RTD) and I ask Anne how Prestons are getting on with it, "It's early days and we're keeping a close eye on it. It's not as bad as we all thought it would be, that's thanks to the RHA and FTA's dialogue with Government before it became law and that has certainly made it not so bad. We've got someone employed full-time who logs the drivers' times and analyses them, we'll assess it in a few months time".

I'm certainly getting the impression that Anne is, quite rightly, against anything that threatens her company, so it is with some trepidation that I mention the Lorry Road User Charging Scheme (LRUC). Anne doesn't surprise me with her response, "An absolute total disaster" is her first comment, "There's too many questions still to be answered - like who's going to pay for the equipment that'll be needed. They (the Government) say it will be tax neutral, I don't believe that it will." Both of us agree that a major problem with the proposed scheme is charging different amounts depending on the time of day and the road being used, especially when the technology to monitor it all isn't ready yet.

When Anne mentions technology, I suddenly realise that there's one trapping of the modern office that's noticeably missing from her desk - a computer. "You've got to have one, they're essential" Anne replies when I ask her about this "But I don't have one myself!" she quickly adds. This certainly doesn't mean that Prestons are Luddites, to run the company they use a system that they designed themselves. "When we first got computers, we looked at what systems were available but nothing fitted the bill, so we wrote our own." The system obviously works well for them, but progress never stops and so Prestons are now looking to update it. With all of their equipment currently office-based, one enhancement that's being investigated is equipping the vehicles with in-cab computers.

With time marching on, I had time for one final question that I wanted to put to Anne. Given that she's been involved with haulage pretty much all of her life and actively since 1965, I asked her whether she thought that we'd seen the 'golden age' of haulage and, if we had, how did she see the future.  "I don't want to sound old and miserable but everyone that I speak to is finding it hard and they would all say that we have seen the golden age. Legislation and competition is making it very difficult"

"Family and independent hauliers will survive. As I said earlier, lots of customers like the family and personal touch, this is an asset we have. Haulage is tough, but we're at a size to survive, we will remain and retain our family of 355 staff."

Snapshot

Before I went to see Anne, I sent her a few lighter questions that I thought would give TNN readers more of an understanding of Anne Preston herself as opposed to Anne Preston, Chairman Prestons of Potto. Below are the questions and her answers; I hope you'll agree that they are certainly enlightening.

Who, or what makes you laugh?

- Richard! He's brilliant at telling jokes, a wonderful raconteur, he makes me and others laugh. When we were off to this year's RHA Conference, he took a book of limericks as his reading.

What CD / Tape have you got in your car at the moment?

- None. When I'm with Richard in his better car (more on Anne's car later on!) then we listen to music from the 60s - Roy Orbison, Jim Reeves, a bit of nostalgia.

What are your three favourite films?

- I haven't been to the cinema for twenty years. But I like Gosforth Park and Gone With The Wind; they're the greatest love stories of all time.

What's your favourite program on television?

- I'm a Coronation Street fan, it's easy viewing after a busy day and I've been watching it for years. I look forward to seeing it after work. Richard has a 'shed' that he keeps his engines in, our grandchildren like to go in there with him while I watch the soaps.

What's the last book that you read?

- 'Memoirs of an Unconventional Lady' by Annabel Goldsmith and I really enjoyed it.

If you were stranded on the famous desert island, what would your luxury item be?

- I would take my lipstick. I'd have a sun tan already wouldn't I?

What can't you live without?

- Richard, I find it hard to function without him. He's my backup and an absolute prop.

You can put one item into Room 101, what would it be?

- My car. It's eight or nine years old and dropping to bits. It's the oldest car in the car park whenever I go to meetings.

If you were hosting a dinner party for six guests who would they be?

- The first two would be Margaret Thatcher (in her heyday) and Tony Blair. This way Mrs Thatcher could instruct Mr Blair on how to win in Europe.

- Shirley Bassey. If I had enough money I'd have her to do the cabaret and sing.

- Philip Green (The unconventional entrepreneur who owns Bhs and the Arcadia Group). It would be lovely to get tips from him on how to be successful.

- Camilla Parker Bowles. Everyone says she's good fun but we know so little about her. Yet she and Charles are the Number One couple, I'd like to know more about her.

- Michael Winner. He fascinated me with his story about his Mother, squandered eight million in Casinos in Cannes and he knows good restaurants.

If one person had to drop out then I would ask Richard Prideaux Brune who is the 'Mein Host' at Plumber Manor in Dorset. He is with out doubt the best host in the UK and Plumber Manor is my all time favourite restaurant.

What's your favourite food?

- Fish and chips. More precisely, Haddock and chips wrapped in newspaper.

I'm ordering drinks at the bar, what would you like?

- Gin and Tonic please, as it's Friday a 'family sized' one please.

How do you relax?

- I love going out to dinner with friends. When we do, they are all banned from mentioning Road Haulage!

Where would you go for your dream holiday?

- Cannes in the South of France. We go every year and I love it.

Do you have any pets?

- No. I'd love a West Highland Terrier but I don't have time to look after one properly at the moment.

What question that I haven't asked you do you wish I had asked and what would your answer be?

- I had this prepared and then you did ask me! I was going to mention the foreign lorries on our roads.