10-4 Magazine - For Today's Trucker

COVER FEATURE - APRIL 2006

CRAZY MUDDER TRUCKER
Owner Operator Rob House Delivers Wet Mud in Style

By Daniel J. Linss - Editor

When it comes to delivering concrete, Rob House does it in style. One of only a handful of owner operators in the Los Angeles area that run ready mix rigs, Rob is in a class by himself. His standout Peterbilt, which features viper red paint, cobalt blue flames and plenty of chrome, is cleaner than most trucks that never leave the pavement. But getting started wasn’t easy for this young trucker. Unlike most of the drivers we meet, Rob did not grow up in a trucking environment, so he had to learn a lot on his own. Thanks to good mentors, friends and family, Rob, at only 36 years old, has already learned enough to have made a name for himself in the world of concrete delivery – which is an interesting industry in itself.

It seems that everything in Rob’s life starts out bad, but ends up good. He’s never done anything the easy way. Before Rob was ever even born, his dad left. But when Rob was 14, his father came back and married Rob’s mom. At first, the two really butted heads, but in the end, they became the best of friends. Rob also found himself in trouble with the law at an early age, but after a few weekends in jail, he got his act together. When he was 18, he found out that his girlfriend Jessica was pregnant. Not the best or easiest way to start a relationship, but 17 years later, he’s still with her and the two have been happily married for about 15 years now. Their daughter Lorraine is now 17 and their son Anthony is 5. Anthony was thrilled to miss a day of school to hang out with his dad on the photo shoot. For a guy who has had so many hurdles to jump over throughout his life, he sure seems to have it all together today.

Growing up in the suburbs of Los Angeles, Rob has always loved hot rods, low-riders and Harleys. As far back as he can remember, all he ever wanted to do was build cars and bikes and “cruise” around. For years his dad (“Pops”) pushed him to open a customizing shop of some kind, but Rob could never imagine doing that sort of thing for a living. Besides, he likes to work outside and didn’t want to end up stuck in some shop. After graduating high school in 1987, Rob started working odd jobs for lousy pay. His dad saw how hard he was working and decided to help Rob get a job where he worked. In 1991, Rob was hired by the City of Los Angeles to work as an electrician at the Department of Water & Power (LADWP), where he worked side-by-side with his dad on a daily basis.

Over the next four years, these two would become best friends and really bond as father and son.
In 1995, Rob got laid off from the LADWP, but while he was working there, he got his commercial drivers license. But he really didn’t have much truck driving experience – in fact, it might be safe to say that he had NO real driving experience. But he had his CDL. On a whim, he decided to apply for a job at Associated, a local non-union ready mix company. They hired him on the spot and he started the next day. It didn’t take long before the trainer asked, “Have you ever driven a truck before?” But this guy was very understanding and (obviously) a good trainer, and after about ten days, Rob was in a truck by himself and doing fine. Rob worked at Associated for about a year and then moved over to Standard. Being a union outfit, the pay at Standard was better and the drivers had a little more say in things. Rob stayed with Standard for eight years. While there, a dispatcher saw potential in Rob and brought him into the office part-time to learn more about the industry. Over the years, while still driving, he learned a lot about the world of ready mix concrete. He also met a fellow driver named Paco and the two became friends.

In May of 2004, Rob got a terrible call from his mother that his dad was having a heart attack and that the paramedics were on the way. Rob lived only a few miles away, so he rushed over, but when he got there, it was too late. His father, Bob House, had died of a sudden and massive heart attack. As you can imagine, it was a tough time for the family. But, again, something bad in Rob’s life became something better. His father’s death caused him to look over his life and reassess where exactly he was. Rob was disappointed that he had never followed “Pops” advice to go out and do something on his own. He vowed to make some changes, and to make “Pops” proud.

For months, Paco had been bugging Rob, trying to convince him to buy his own ready mix truck and go out on his own. Paco was planning on doing it and had worked out all the numbers – but he didn’t want to do it alone. But Rob was dragging his feet. He was third in seniority at Standard and things were going pretty well. It was hard for him to think about leaving such a stable situation, but after his father’s death things seemed different. So, in March of 2005, he did something that is virtually unheard of in the concrete business – he bought a new truck (which nobody does) and became an owner operator. And he didn’t just buy any new truck – he specially-ordered the sweet Pete on our cover and centerfold this month. This is about the time when people started calling him the “Crazy Mudder Trucker”.

Purchased at Rush Peterbilt in Pico Rivera, California, virtually everything that you see on the truck today (besides the flames) was ordered at the dealership. Rob really made his salesman, Spencer Lacey, work hard for his money. The 2005 Model 357 Peterbilt, which is built for vocational work and heavy duty applications, was ordered with a Cat C-11 engine, an 11-speed transmission (which includes three Low Reverse gears), a 60-gallon fuel tank (which is large for a mixer), a super heavy duty Hendrickson HAULMAAX rear suspension, bullet cab lights and a chrome-plated bumper. Rob upgraded the stereo to a 9-disc changer with an amplifier and six speakers (inside the cab) and added a seventh speaker at the rear of the truck, outside, so he can continue to listen to music while unloading. The waterproof external speaker is activated by a toggle switch in the cab.

The cab and chassis was built at Peterbilt’s factory in Denton, Texas, and then the unit was piggy-backed to McNeilus in Minnesota, where the chassis was “beefed up” and then the mixer body was installed. From there, it was shipped to California. Rob picked up the truck, drove it home and then immediately removed the hood and fenders. Using a forklift, he loaded the pieces up on a flatbed and took them to Rock & Roll Custom Paint in Orange, California. The artists at Rock & Roll sprayed the dark blue flames and then outlined them with lime green pinstripes. It’s a strange combination, but the colors look good together. Rob got the pieces back on a Saturday, put the truck back together on Sunday, and went to work on Monday. Hey, he had to get this baby out on the road and start making some money!

Having never spent much time with a ready mix hauler, we did not know much about the industry and had a lot of questions. We learned that hauling concrete is no easy task. Empty, this truck weighs 40,000 pounds, and fully loaded with ten yards of concrete, it can be 70,000 pounds. Remember, this weight is not distributed over a long combination and several axles, so that is pretty heavy. Whenever Rob is hauling more than five yards of concrete, he has to lower “The Booster” axle in the back of the truck to carry some of the weight. Because of their concentrated weight and the movement of the rotating drum, mixers are prone to roll over and hard to keep straight in a lane on the freeway. And you can imagine how hard it is to keep a mixer clean – which is why most of them are not usually clean – but Rob’s rig always looks good because he hoses it off and wipes it down after every load – and that can sometimes be up to five times (or more) a day!

A typical day for Rob starts early. The location and time of his first delivery determines when and where he’ll be picking up his concrete. Robertson’s Ready Mix has several batch plants in Southern California, so that is where he usually gets most of his product. A batch plant is where they mix up all the ingredients to make a “batch” of concrete. Once loaded, it is Rob’s responsibility to make sure that the concrete has the proper “slump,” a term used to describe how thick (or thin) the mixture is. Rob likes his concrete to be a little wetter than usual because the pumpers like it that way and it is easier to wash off – which explains the “WET MUD” on his license plate and “THE WETTER THE BETTER” on his license plate frame. And speaking of concrete, let’s get something clear – cement is not the same thing as concrete. Cement is an ingredient in concrete. Calling a ready mix truck a “cement mixer” is like calling the ground (outside) the floor – it’s not correct terminology, and it annoys the heck out of most ready mix drivers.

Today, Rob and Paco (who also bought a truck) work together. They are both independent operators, but they often work side-by-side. Most of their work comes from concrete pumping companies. These companies get hired to lay concrete somewhere and then call Rob (or Paco) to bring in the product. Most of the loads are delivered in residential neighborhoods to people who are remodeling their house, adding a patio or redoing their driveway. On an average eight-hour day, Rob can deliver three loads. He and Paco would like to add another truck to their team, because with three trucks, “You can handle just about any job.” Rob wanted to send out a special “thank you” to all of the pumping companies out there that keep him busy six days a week.

And when Rob is not busy hauling mud, he’s usually at home playing with his cars and bikes. He currently owns several “low-rods” and an original 1956 Panhead Harley Davidson. A “low-rod” is a combination of a hot rod and a low-rider, and a style that Rob is partial to. One of his rods, a 1950 Chevy Fleetline, is being featured in a nationally-distributed car magazine in the near future. This car was restored from the ground up and is perfect. His future plans, among other things, include building a hot rod mixer that breaks all the rules (painted black, lowered, chopped top, etc). But that will have to wait, because what he really wants to do is take a break from all the customizing for a while and spend some time with his family.

No story about Rob would be complete without mentioning his tattoos. He has a LOT of them! He got his first one at 16 and then never stopped. Today, he has pretty much run out of skin to ink up, so he probably won’t be getting many more. To mention just a few, he has hot rods on his back, his children’s portraits on his arm, his father’s face over his heart, a hot rod mixer on his leg, and a memorial to his father on his right hand. His mother made him promise that he wouldn’t get any on the front of his neck (one of his last pieces of unmarked skin). He told her, “After you die, I’ll get MOM tattooed on the front of my neck just for you!”

Rob built this truck in his dad’s memory, and a sticker on the back window confers. Compared to most fathers and sons, these two did not get much time together. But in the short time they had, they packed in more good times and great memories than most of us do in a lifetime. Rob spoke at the memorial service saying, “Thanks Pops – you are a huge part of the man I’ve become today. I’ll be there with you again someday and we’ll have many more great times.” But for now, Rob is just happy to be alive and healthy. He thanks his family and friends for all their help and for putting up with him all these years. Rob believes that many of the people he meets probably think he’s a jerk, but he’s really just a quiet, shy, guarded guy.

He always loved to cruise in cool cars and today that is what Rob does for a living. He has the perfect job! The only difference is that his “car” is a lot bigger and he gets paid to drive it. If Rob’s good qualities did come from his dad, then we are sorry that we never got to meet “Pops” – he must have been a good man and we are sure that he is very proud of his son. Rest in peace Bob House – this article goes out to you – wherever you are.