MOVILLE, Iowa | Gale Heyer remembers hopping in a semi with his father, Robert Heyer, nearly 35 years ago. They headed west with a load of grain.
"Back then, kids ran tractors when they were 11 or 12 or so," Heyer says from his home in Moville. "Now they don't let kids stand next to tractors."
Heyer recalls taking the wheel from his father, allowing him to rest as they zipped west across a portion of South Dakota. Heady stuff for a high school boy from Anthon, Iowa.
It was a sign of things and miles to come. Millions of miles, most likely.
For much of his working career, Heyer has been behind the wheel of a big rig, delivering all sorts of products to facilities across the Midwest. The U.S. population, he says with conviction, owes much of its existence to the truck drivers of this country.
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"If you buy it, eat it, drink it or wear it, there's a pretty good chance it got to you with a trucker involved," Heyer says.
Heyer had a little trucking background, thanks to his father, when he graduated from Anthon High School in 1982. Rather than hit the road right away, Heyer worked full-time for dairy farmer Jim Droegmiller, north of Cushing, Iowa, staying on the farm he served during his high school summers.
After working for Rasmussen Ford in Cherokee, Iowa, for a year in the parts department, the late Robert Heyer approached his only son.
"He told me it was time to get my chauffeur's license and start driving truck," Gale Heyer says.
Robert Heyer had trucked for years for small firms and small farmers, out of places like Correctionville, Danbury, Galva and Midway.
Gale Heyer passed the test, which he said amounted to "mostly common sense." He began hauling livestock immediately. He liked the challenge and the sense of adventure that came with being out on the road.
He kept at it, even though he ended up taking a day-time job in Sioux City, working to clean and recondition used cars for Knoepfler Chevrolet. In the 16 years, Heyer worked for Knoepfler, he kept trucking on the weekends.
"I'd run with Dad and help him when he was tired," he says. "I also worked on his truck when it needed any work."
The road beckoned and the urge became too great to overcome in 1999, when Gale Heyer signed on full-time with a company named Double O out of Columbus, Nebraska.
"I had a route hauling corn germ from Marshall, Minnesota, to Blair, Nebraska, every day, 12 months per year," he says, noting he'd have Saturdays off, but that was it.
"I'd work Christmas, Easter, you name it," Heyer notes.
The 558-mile route took 12 hours and allowed Heyer the comfort of being home each night with his wife, Jackie.
"I'd leave about 4 in the morning and get back at 3-4 in the afternoon," he says. "I liked it."
Heyer worked the CB radio those days, earning a handle of "Wildman" from fellow drivers at Marshall, a name they hung on him for his ability to drive through Minnesota snow.
"I'd show up in Marshall and four guys would be sitting there waiting for the snow to taper off," he says with a laugh. "I'd get the truck loaded and lead 'em out."
Running in "packs" of four to five trucks was more commonplace 15 years ago. There's a little more independence today, a little less of the fraternity feel.
"You'd run with people back then and talk back and forth and it was fun," he says. "Now, it seems to be more like every man is for himself. The older drivers really looked out for one another. I'm not sure the younger drivers today do as much of that."
Kevin Lloyd of KVLZ Trucking, Inc., of Climbing Hill, Iowa, hired Heyer in January 2003. Making the switch allowed Heyer to keep a truck about 200 yards from his residence. He got to stay with routes in the Midwest, but expanded his regular reach into Wisconsin, where Heyer makes regular runs from Le Mars, Iowa, to a town called Pleasant Prairie.
"I use 500 gallons of fuel per week, running from Iowa to Wisconsin with ground pork going out, frozen sausage coming back," he says.
Heyer listens to classic rock and old country music as he cruises, shifting from gear to gear (there are 13 gears). For a change of pace, he sometimes turns on old-time radio dramas like "Superman," "Dragnet," and "Green Hornet."
"I'd talk on the CB, but, now, you almost can't get anyone to answer," he says.
In 2007, Kevin Lloyd presented Heyer with a certificate of appreciation safety award from Continental Western Group. The framed certificate lauded Heyer for 1 million accident-free miles.
"The next week, I backed up and just barely caught a pole," Heyer says with a laugh. "You knew something like that would happen!"
Fortunately, very little else has happened along that line. Heyer has been safe and content on the road, enjoying a career his dad directed him toward, taking satisfaction moving product and keeping customers happy with everything from sausage to corn germ to English muffins.
The paper this story is printed on, in fact, arrived to the printer via truck.
