Leyland Trucks has lent its support to a project to champion UK truck manufacturing: the world’s first Truck Trail.

The Truck Trail showcases the heritage of the UK truck industry and its roots in Lancashire, marking more than a century of truck manufacture in the region.

It has been designed to inspire a future generation of skilled workers and will link up with an education project to encourage more young people to learn about engineering.

The line-up of trucks has been set up in partnership with Leyland Trucks, and a host of other Lancashire businesses. Each six-foot high truck model was inspired by iconic Leyland Trucks models manufactured over the past 120-years, including the Euro 6 DAF LF and XF models.

Ivan Shearer, HR director at Leyland Trucks, said: “Leyland Trucks and DAF are proud to sponsor this exciting local community project. 

“It is particularly pleasing to work with the project partners to encourage our local education sector to develop their vision of what a future truck might look like, and in doing so we will help inspire the next generation of manufacturers and engineers.”

Part of the sponsorship money will fund an education programme in schools throughout the borough to teach children about careers opportunities in advanced manufacturing and engineering under the banner of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

Leyland Trucks manufactures the full range of DAF product, of which approximately 40% is exported.

It has a school outreach programme, working with young children through to university students, to showcase the importance of STEM subjects to UK manufacturing, and collaborating on specific design and engineering projects.