The fun is the challenge.
Fred C. Foreman, 48, of Mount Hope has been in the trucking business for the past six years.
Before that, he drove trucks professionally for trucking companies throughout the Beckley area.
Foreman says there’s no other job he’d want to do.
“I was driving a coal truck and doing everything for the other guy except make the payment on the truck,” Foreman says with a laugh. “I decided to do it for myself.”
Now, Foreman has a fleet of coal trucks, including four Internationals and two Kenworth’s.
Each truck is equipped with its own trailer. Four of the trailers are 34 feet. Two are 36 feet.
“They’ll haul 20 tons of coal each trip,” says Foreman, who averages five trips to the mine and back each day.
Foreman drives his truck from Cabin Creek to Marmet. The journeyis about 57 miles round trip. It takes the driver about two hours to make each run.
“I started driving a coal truck when I was 18,” says the brown-eyed coal hauler. “I’ve been driving ever since.”
Foreman began his driving career at the wheel of a Ford 9000 model truck in 1980s, hauling equipment for the coal and lumber industries. His wages amounted to about $3.80 per hour.
Times have changed, however. Drivers in the Mountain State now are ordered to have a certified driver’s license, a commercial license required of all truckers driving vehicles weighing more than 26,000 pounds gross vehicle weight (GVW).
“The license law has created more of a demand for better quality drivers,” Foreman explains.
“The CDL was put into effect to keep drivers from using different licenses for every ticket they get for violations. Now, if they lose their CDL, they lose their driving privileges.”
He continues, “Your record follows you now matter where you go, even out of state. In due time, it will cause a greater demand for better quality drivers. It will make the trucking industry a better place to work…”
As a result, the best drivers likely will get the best jobs, according to Fontana. “The trucking companies will have to pay more money to get top of the line drivers,” the driver says.
Foreman is an independent trucker. But he says he never knows when he might have to go back on the open road, hauling freight on the nation’s interstates.
Still, there is a big difference between driving a coal truck and operating an over-the-road truck, he says.
“There are no companies out there training drivers for coal trucks,”he says. “Driving coal trucks up and down the mountains is a different story from running over-the-road rigs on the open highway.”
Foreman adds, “You can train on the highway to drive a coal truck. It is basically the same kind of truck, but it’s not the same kind of job. There’s much more risk involved.”
The risk factor is greater on the coal hauling roads than on interstates, according to Foreman.
He explains why. “In an over-the-road rig you are driving on a federal highway, with no more than a 7 or 8 percent grade on highway. On some strip jobs, they are allowed around 12 to 14 percent grade.
“That puts a greater responsibility on you, the driver. It is more of a high-risk job than hauling freight on the interstates.”
Foreman says his coal hauling treks on roads to and from the pits where he picks up his daily loads usually are between 8 and 14 percent grade.
“These roads seldom get any maintenance,” he adds. “They usually are dirt and gravel roads. They’re a lot steeper than public highways.”
The veteran trucker smiles, then adds, “In winter, you do a lot of sliding. You put chains on the tires and do what you have to do to get to your destination.
“But you still slide down the mountain, and that is an experience you can’t get on any other kind of driving job.”
Truck technology has changed too, giving a slight edge to drivers who can afford the luxury of driving a state-of-the-art coal truck.
Foreman drives a 2003 Kenworth with 425 horses.
Its conventional cab features a 60-inch sleeper.
“I might not always be in coal business,” Foreman reasons, “and I might have to go out on the road someday.
“But you really cannot go on the road with a coal truck. With this extra space, you can stay on the highway a lot longer.”
Foreman’s Kenworth features a 15-speed transmission with 2 speed rear ends and a number of comforts and conveniences.
“I try to set up my trucks with the drivers in mind, the hours they spend on the road, and try to make their job as pleasant as possible.
“The sleeper comes in handy if you are waiting on coal in between pits (where the coal is picked up with loaders and dumped into the coal trucks).
“Sometimes you have to wait an hour or two for the coal to get ready. It’s easier to get rest in the sleeper than it is by leaning over the steering wheel. In the sleeper, you can stretch out and get more comfortable.”
He adds, “The steering wheel has been downsized because of power steering. The old trucks needed larger steering wheels so the drivers could get leverage.”
Foreman’s Kenworth’s instrument panel resembles the cockpit of a passenger jet:
There are electronic gauges for computing fuel depletion, oil pressure, rear end temperature, transmission temperature, turbo boosters, fuel pressure, air restriction, exhaust emissions, tachometer readings, speedometer data, amps, voltage, air pressure and more.
These high-tech trucks have air-ride suspension, crushed velour interior, cruise control, polished wheels, cellular phones, CB radios, refrigerators, arm rests, AM-FM stereo systems, high-back seats, dual chrome and aluminum stacks, lab-top computers, and air conditioning.
And though most over-the-road trucks usually weigh about 23,000 pounds (both truck and trailer), modern coal trucks are built extra sturdy to withstand the stress of rugged day-to-day hauling on bumpy backroads.
The veteran truck driver notes that some modern coal trucks are constructed strong enough to haul as much as 50 tons (100,000 pounds) with the rig, yet the legal weight for most trucks is 20 tons (or 40,000 pounds).
Forman’s 18-wheeler is licensed to carry up to 80,000 pounds gross weight on interstates.
His crew of five full-time drivers and one part timer keep six coal trucks on the road for his company, five days a week. He also drives a truck himself.
Although he’s glad to be in a position to contribute something to the local economy by creating jobs for people, Foreman says the overhead of operating a company that hauls coal commercially is mind boggling.
For instance, the average truck and coal hauling rig might cost upwards of $150,000 per rig. His own inventory totals nearly $1 million in trucks and hauling equipment.
Licenses cost nearly $1,200 a year for each vehicle, he says. With the federal excise tax, tires (he averages 20,000 miles on a set) cost $400 each.
“That’s 18 times $400 just to get rolling,” says Foreman.
Insurance premiums are staggering and so are truck payments.
Plus, there are breakdowns and hauling downtime to contend with. “An oil change every 5,000 miles is $200 plus the cost of the filter. You’re looking at a 10 gallon drum of oil for one of these engines.”
The veteran truck driver adds, “I change my own oil when I can, and the drivers grease their own trucks.”
The work is hard and the equipment is expensive. But Foreman, like hundreds of other coal truck charioteers in the Mountain State, are die-hard drivers who wouldn’t trade professions with anyone.
“It’s a challenge. We’re moving coal. Somebody has to do it. It’s very competitive. A lot of people want your job. The trucking industry is a high-pressure business. Trucks must meet both federal and state inspection. Coal hauling is a high risk industry, probably higher than any other trucking industry.”
The dedicated truck driver pauses, then adds, “It’s a five-and-a-half to six-day week job. There’s enough maintenance to keep you busy seven days a week: the tires, the brakes, oil changes, fan belts and more.
“I get up at 5 a.m. and get home at about 8 p.m. I work between 12 to 14 hours a day. My wife Cathy manages the books and takes care of the payroll and expenses.
“She runs parts and handles the insurance that keeps us on the road.
“Besides all of that, she still holds another job.”
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Top o’ the morning!