Truck Driver - 1969

 I'm not sure if the year is right, this could have been between my junior and senior year, that is 1970 instead of 1969. I found a job with Asphalt Paving & Gravel. They were putting gravel on a large electrical switching station at  44° 7'58.24"N,  99°26'11.58"W just north of Ft Thompson, SD. I was a gopher, I was hired to be the odd job guy to rake the gravel into the tight places, pull the dump truck cords, get the drinks, etc. The interesting point was that although it wasn't too far away from Huron by today's standards, back then, it was forever away...an hour and a half. So four of us would get into one of our cars and drive to Lee's Corner every Monday and come home Friday night. Lee's Corner was a tiny store out in the middle of nowhere and they used to have a trailer with four beds...perfect. The job was to haul gravel from near the river in Ft Thompson to the station, spread it out about 6" deep and ensure it was level throughout. There were three truck drivers, a foreman, a front end loader operator, a road grader operator, and me. One of the heavy equipment operators was local, the foreman didn't stay with us. 

The second week, one of the truck drivers didn't show up. The foreman looked at me and asked if I'd ever driven a truck, I responded, "No." He told me it was time to learn. The trucks were relatively new International Harvester cabover 3-4 yard bucket dump trucks. Thank God they had automatic transmissions. He showed me how to start it, gave me directions to the gravel pit, and sent me on my way. I was amazed at the size of the front end loader at the pit, he filled my truck up with one scoop and when the gravel hit my bed, it made a big booming crunch. I returned to the station, everyone was waiting for me. I backed up to the previous load, instead of me pulling the rope to open the tailgate, one of my "friends" said they he would get it and that I should start raising the bed and driving forward. Except that he delayed pulling the rope for several seconds so the front wheels and cab came off the ground!!! When he finally released the tailgate, the truck came crashing down and scared the shit out of me, I was sure the engine was going to break loose and I'd be paying for a truck. In truth I guess I only "flew" a few inches but the boom was significant. I had a great time for the weeks that we were on that job and felt that I was holding my own with the crew. But then we finished and went back to Huron.

In Huron, I learned about the other part of Asphalt Paving and Gravel...the paving part. I continued as a truck driver but now I was hauling asphalt. I would drive to whatever the job, back into the paver, let it push me while I slowly raised the bed, and then head back to the company's shop to get another load of asphalt. EXCEPT, that after returning from delivery I had to clean the bed of the truck. I would raise the bed a couple of inches and then climb into the bed with a shovel, broom and a hose to a diesel tank. Yes, not water but diesel fuel. I can't believe how toxic that was but didn't know then...I would scrub the bits of leftover asphalt and rinse with diesel. The fuel wrecked my boots. The new crew wasn't very friendly and we spent no time together. Very unlike the gravel pit. I was happy to leave that job.