Meet the smallest lorry driver in the world - a 4ft 9in woman who loves being “high up” in her massive truck.<br /><br />Hayley Hume, 40, was terrified of lorries after colliding with one while driving in 2008 and would get clammy hands when she passed one.<br /><br />Her cousin, Kyle, 27, a lorry driver, took her out in his massive vehicle to help her face her fear.<br /><br />She loved it so much she ditched her job as a dog trainer and became a pro truck driver.<br /><br />The mum- of-one now drives a 14ft high, 16.5m long, 44 tonne, 16 wheeled tipper truck along Britain's motorways, delivering sand and gravel to building sites and quarries for 60 hours a week.<br /><br />Little Hayley, who is only 144cm tall, admits her male colleagues are often surprised to see her clambering in and out of the huge lorry - who ask her "where is your dad'.<br /><br />But she loves her job.<br /><br />Hayley from Bakewell, Derbyshire, said: “I love being high up.<br /><br />“It’s like being in my own little castle.<br /><br />“After the crash 15 years ago I wouldn’t go on the motorway for ages.<br /><br />“My hands would get all clammy when I passed lorries.<br /><br />“Kyle took me out in his lorry to help me face my fear and I ended up loving it.<br /><br />“I’m so small everyone is shocked to see a little woman climb out of a lorry.<br /><br />“I get a lot of stares but I just laugh it off.<br /><br />“If you’re a woman going into it, don’t let it bother you.”<br /><br />Speaking of her 2008 crash, she said: "I was on the motorway and a lorry starting indicating into my lane.<br /><br />“I know now he couldn’t see me.<br /><br />“I had to accelerate to get so he wouldn’t hit me but then had to slow down quickly because of road works.<br /><br />“He ended up going into the back of me.<br /><br />“I used to stay away from lorries or very quickly pass them if I had too.”<br /><br />Cousin Kyle took her out in 2016 and she loved it.<br /><br />She said: “I ended up loving it.<br /><br />“I love the freedom of it.<br /><br />“I do enjoy it.”<br /><br />She become a qualified HGV driver – passing her qualifications in 2016.<br /><br />Trucking runs in the family, and she follows in the footsteps of dad, Kenny, 79, and her grandad Donald, in his 90s.<br /><br />Hayley has always dealt with stares and comments about her small frame.<br /><br />She said: “I wear age nine to ten children’s clothes and age 13 kids boots.<br /><br />“I get a lot of stares especially when stopped in traffic.<br /><br />“People have asked – ‘where’s your dad?’ when I get out the truck.<br /><br />“I just laugh.<br /><br />"You've got to have a sense of humour to be a lorry driver."<br /><br />Hayley’s size or gender has never held her back as a truck driver, she said.<br /><br />She said: “Inside the lorry everything moves. <br /><br />“It’s all adjustable so there is no issues.<br /><br />“I’ve thought about teaching other women as a HGV instructor.<br /><br />“I want to teach the safety.<br /><br />“These lorries are big killing machines.”<br /><br />Hayley realised she was the shortest driver in the world after Googling the record and has now put her application forward for the Guinness World Record.
