10-4 Magazine March 2023

32 10-4 Magazine / March 2023 Across the country, mining has been a mainstay for many communities that have witnessed the rise and decline periods within this industry. Along with the coal miners came trucks and truckers, which are common in Virginia and West Virginia. This is the story of Dale Bennett (66), a second-generation trucker from West Virginia who, once away from hauling coal mining related commodities, was more than happy to not look back. Today, he is the proud owner operator of a 359 out of King, NC and part of the pride in generations with his son, Josh, following in his footsteps, as Dale did with his father. Growing up not knowing anything but trucking, Dale was basically made to like it, but he wasn’t really made to do anything because he loved trucks, and still does. He was born on June 20th and always thought it was pretty neat that he celebrated the same birthday as his home state of West Virginia (June 20, 1863), where he was born and raised. Stories of trucking’s past are cool to listen to and always welcomed, but they also give some insight on how different (and tougher) trucking was back then. Dale remembers as a teenager that fuel was $0.27 per gallon and winters were definitely harsher. Sometimes it would be so cold that his dad would start the trucks in the evening and just let them idle through the night so they wouldn’t freeze up. Another tactic was using three-gallon Maxwell House coffee cans, stuffed with rags soaked in diesel fuel, that would be lit under the front axle to warm the oil pan, making the trucks easier to start in the mornings. By age 12, Dalewas already helping his dad around the shop, which included greasing trucks and moving them around the yard. His dad, John Earl (everyone but his wife called him that), owned J.E. Bennett Trucking, and he started out with flatbed straight trucks hauling mine timbers. Mine timberswerecut toacertain size and length and used as braces inside the coal mines to prevent the walls from collapsing. After John Earl transitioned from flatbed straight trucks to triaxle dump trucks, he began hauling coal. Continuing to teach his son, Dale began driving on his own eventually, especially during the summers, between his junior and senior years of high school. One time when Dale was driving and not quite “legal” yet, he heard on the radio that the DOT was set up on top of Raleigh Hill, doing road checks on the The Diesel Addict: By Stephanie Haas driver’s licenses and registrations of the trucks that passed by. Hearing this, Dale had to pull over and call his dad to come out and drive the truck. John Earl came, took over driving until the DOT left their location, then put Dale back in the driver’s seat and said, “Have a good day.” At 18, already a seasoned driver, Dale obtained his Chauffeur’s License, the precursor to the modern-day CDL. As the coal mining industry came into a decline, it trickled down to the other industries involved, including trucking. Dale’s father decided to move to road construction materials, which included gravel and paving (Dale and his parents were three-part owners of J.E. Bennett Trucking). At about 32 years old, Dale and his then wife were expecting PRIDE IN GENERATIONS