United States of America

My dad got me interested in trucks at a very early age, but he didn’t realize it. He worked as the night manager at the Cumberland Restaurant, in Cumberland, Virginia, while farming during the day. He would grab about 5 or 6 hours a day and catching small naps when he could.

Before Interstate 64 was built, US rt. 60 was a major truck route, and it ran right through the middle of Cumberland, and of course right by the Cumberland Restaurant which was open 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week.

When I was a kid there were always trucks pulled off at the restaurant on both sides of the highway.

In the early sixties there would always seem to be a McLean truck or two there. Dad would tell us about the drivers, the log books they had to keep, and the trucks they drove. “That’s a Kenworth, they call them the Cadillac of trucks,” the companies “that’s a Transcon, they run coast to coast”, and he knew a lot of the drivers.

When we went to Amelia, Virginia to Goodman truck and tractor, International dealer to get parts for the International farm tractors or equipment, route 360 was still a two lane road and went through the town there, before they had built the bypass. I would stand out front and watch all the trucks go by, mostly Roadway it seems.

My brother and I would always go and look at the big trucks on the lot for sale, and I always grabbed up a stack of sales brochures. I wish I had them now.

One truck in particular that I still remember was a GMC that passed by our house almost every day. We lived on old route 13 in Cumberland, which was the old main drag before route 60 was built. I believe it was an 860 model with the sloped hood.

About 3 or 4 miles east of us was a place called Tobaccoville. It was not even a town, just one store on the intersection of 681 and route 13.

On a clear summer evening you could hear this truck coming before he got to the intersection. He was hauling shavings for chicken house floors. You could hear the truck slow down as he approached the intersection, he would stop, turn left and as he came closer you could hear him change every gear. I’m sure the truck had a straight pipe coming out from that 671 Detroit engine. When he got to our house, he was in the big hole and seemed to be flying at the time, although he was probably doing about 50 mph. We would always run to the front yard and do the “blow your horn” arm gesture, hoping for a response. He usually obliged with an added smile and wave. Once he passed you could hear him all the way to the Cumberland Court House, where he had to stop and start away again until he faded into the distance. This was in the mid 1960’s.

When I finished high school in 1974, I got a job driving a big truck. It was a 1940’s Euclid in a quarry. The job lasted from Monday morning until ten after three on Wednesday.

The big rig that I was driving had a 4-71 GMC diesel with about a two foot high straight pipe sticking up through the hood. It had a 5 speed transmission with a 2 speed auxiliary, but you did not need it, you never got out of second with a load of rock. If you really wanted to “hammer down” back into the hole, you could use third or second-over.

On Wednesday when I was coming up out of the hole headed for the crusher to dump a load of rock, a man on a small bulldozer was coming down the hill. I stopped just before a little pull-off on the right so he could pull in and let me go by. I figured he would pull off, because I was loaded. Besides, I had almost three days experience by then. Well he stopped for a moment and then he took off right for me, and ran the little crawler right into my left front wheel. He then yelled at me, “When you see somebody coming. Get out of the way”. That’s when I saw that it was Mr. Rose, the owner of the quarry. I then drove the Euclid up the hill, parked it and quit.

After that I went to work at a garage working on cars and trucks, doing a lot of welding. They had a big wrecker that was a 1958 or 1959 GMC 860. It was not the Cannonball style, but the model with the sloped hood. It was powered by a model 6-71 Detroit Diesel engine, and was hooked up to a 5 speed transmission and a 2 speed rear axle.

I loved the few opportunities that I got to drive it, even if it was just pulling it in or out of the shop.

I was working there when I got to drive my first “real” big rig. A man named James told me to come on and ride with him to road test a truck. It was an International Transtar, with a 350 Cummins and a 10 speed Roadranger. He never used the clutch to shift, and when he asked me if I wanted to give it a try, I jumped at the chance. From then on, I had to road test everything, even if I had to just put air in the tires.

I worked at the garage for 2 ½ years, but left for a welding job in Powhatan, Virginia. I was making $2.90 an hour at the garage, but the welding job started me at $4.00 hour. I stayed there for 2 years and worked my way up to $5.00 an hour by then.

Another guy working there got mad about something or other through a fit and said he was going to quit and buy a truck, at that, I said “I’ll go with you.” I still had thoughts about trucks all along, and figured this was my chance.

We bought a 1974 International cab-over, with a 290 Cummins and a 13 speed. We soon parted ways. I then started driving for the company that we were leased to and they gave me a 1978 GMC Astro equipped with a 290 Cummins and a 9 speed to haul furniture from North Carolina and Virginia to the west coast.

This too got old quickly, because every time you got in the truck you would be gone for a week and a half to two weeks at least.

I started out running single, but the company required teams on all the trucks, and they told me that if I could find someone of my choice, or they would find a partner for me. Well I got a friend to run double with, but after a little while they found out that he had changed the date on his license showing that he was old enough to drive for the company. When we got back off the trip they told him he was off the truck, but he could come back when he was old enough. They must have thought that he knew what he was doing, to invite him back. So I said “I’ll go with you” and I quit with him.

I knew he had driven for 2 different companies in Virginia that were close to home, running local and long distance, but no west coast. I asked him which one he thought that I should go to. He said that you will probably make more money at this one, but more than likely you will like driving for H.H. Moore better.

In 1979 I went to work for H.H. Moore Jr. trucking in Appomattox. I ran local for the first year or so hauling wood chips from Dillwyn, Virginia to Covington, Virginia. It paid $30 a load flat rate. It was about 120-125 miles one way. If you arrived at the mill, backed in, dumped the load and left right away, it wasn’t too bad. If you had to sit in a line up waiting your turn, your time was charity as it paid the same $30 as a quick turn around.

To this day, that old sloped-nose GMC 860’s is one of my all time favorite trucks.

------- William Thomas Blackwell.

RETURN TO FIRST TIME TRUCKERS --- MENU