My van by Vanessa

Hi, I’m Vanessa. I drive a van too and every now and again, when Ivan gets off the computer, I’m going to post my viewpoint about vans and van driving.

I love my van, I use it for my work, to take feed to my horse and my friends are always asking me to help them out by using it to move furniture, garden ornaments and all manner of things. I even transported a whole van load of helium balloons for a friend’s 30th birthday party once when the venue flooded at the last moment.

Yes, the pressure washer was a great idea for the outside, but I think it’s important to keep the inside clean as well and this can be a bit tricky at times, especially when a certain husband uses my van to transport bags of cement home from the builder’s yard.

I mainly deliver flower arrangements, from the tiniest button-hole to some really fancy creations – I don’t do the arrangements, but I deliver a lot for a local florist and some of them are beautiful but really tricky to transport.

So, having the proper equipment in your van is essential, that’s load securing straps, stacking boxes and containers to stop the arrangements moving around in the back, and some good old fashioned tarps to protect the floor from water spills.

I also go to the flower markets sometimes to pick up the bargains for the florist.  You can get all sorts of things if you get up early enough – but sometimes it can be really chilly. Good job my van always starts. 

And I always go prepared – I’ve got Ivan’s jump leads in the cab of my van.


Image of "Lion on Pallet" © D H Wright and "Jump Leads" © charles Williams, both via Flickr under Creative Commons Licence