June 2009 TRUCKER TALK
THE CUMMINS KING
BY WRITER & OWNER OPERATOR KIM GRIMM
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting a man that I’d heard about for over 20 years. The scenic Wasatch Mountain range provides a beautiful backdrop for Doyle’s Diesel, a truck repair shop that Doyle Coombs built in 1984 at exit 222 on I-15 in Nephi, Utah. I had always heard, “If you have a Cummins, this is the place to take it!” But, while there, I also learned that it would be a great place to take my Cat, too. Doyle Coombs is a legend in the truck repair industry, and after spending some time with him, I could see why.
Pete Briggs and I delivered in Parowan, Utah, along with Robbie Zillmer of Sussex, Wisconsin, who had the other half of our load. Both trucks needed their valves adjusted and Pete, who has went to Doyle’s Diesel several times over the years, made one phone call after getting unloaded in Parowan and off we went, on our way to Nephi. Once there, it was Pete who gave me the idea to write about this humble, honest man. And since it would be a couple of days before we could reload, it would work out perfect. My first impression of Doyle was a good one. When we went upstairs to talk, on his door was a sign that said, “Truth: Never lose sight of the fact that the most important step of your success will be how you treat others, family, friends, co-workers and strangers you meet along the way.”
That morning (Tuesday), Doyle had been up since 2:30 a.m. after being called about a wreck that had happened 10 miles north of Nephi, where a truck had laid over. Doyle not only runs the repair shop, but he also has a 24-hour towing business. It was decided to wait until daylight to unload the flipped trailer and get the truck back up on its wheels. And since we had nothing to do while we waited for our trucks to be worked on, we went out with them to the crash site to watch them work and take some pictures. And although we hope that this doesn’t ever happen to any driver, it is good to know that there is someone out there to help you when it does.
We ended up being at Doyle’s place for three days (until Thursday), because when they got into Pete’s engine they found more wrong than just the valves. Luckily, Pete had purchased an extended warranty after his last rebuild, which apparently was a good thing, because a few of the problems had been caused by the previous shop’s poor work. Once they got all the necessary parts (which is why we were there for three days), they got us going and on our way. In the meantime, they also got Robbie’s truck running better than ever! Having the extra time gave us a chance to really get to know Doyle and learn just a little bit about how he got started in this business that he’s made so successful.
Doyle was born on “the other side of the mountain” on a farm. Working on trucks and maintaining all of their equipment was just a part of life on the farm. In 1961, Doyle started pumping gas for Dick Wetherell at Dick’s Service in Nephi, UT. Back then, Wetherell had five mechanics. Doyle was moved up to working in the parts room, and then Dick said, “If you want to be a mechanic, I’ll teach you. But if you don’t, don’t waste my time.” Dick had been a mechanic all his life and was already in his 60’s at the time. Doyle accepted the offer (or was it a challenge) and from there began his long and fruitful career in truck repair.
Mr. Wetherell sent Doyle to school to learn about Cummins engines and the Cummins’ owners took him in, which would later really pay off. Over the years, Doyle has worked closely with several Cummins factory engineers including Artie Engel, Marv Lawson and Jay Thompson. Doyle has also done field tests for the Cummins 475 Twin Turbo, Cummins 444 and the Cummins N14. Doyle is hoping to do some field testing on Cummins’ next new engine in the near future. If anything went wrong on these test engines, it was Doyle’s job to load up his truck and go fix it, making sure to thoroughly document everything along the way. Artie and Marv have since retired from Cummins, and Jay now runs his own shop in South Carolina. Today, when Doyle sends his mechanics to school, it costs $7,000 a year each.
Looking for a change, Doyle went to Salt Lake City for one year, but didn’t like it and went back to Nephi. He shared with me the fact that Nephi had the last red light between New York and Los Angeles, before the interstate was done. After working for Dick, he worked for Cox Construction and Mt. Nebo Foods before buying Dick’s old business in 1975. He built the current shop in 1984, and then later added another section to store his wreckers. Today, the building for Doyle’s Diesel is 110’ x 180’. Doyle has been driving wreckers for a long time – he learned to drive in an old Mack quadraplex military wrecker.
Ann, his wife of 47 years, stopped by one morning to run an errand and was there long enough for me to get a picture of them together before she had to be on her way. Doyle told me about their six children, three sons and three daughters. Of the six kids, two of their sons and two of their daughters work in the shop. When they were younger, all the kids loved to rodeo, just like their father. In fact, when Pete called Doyle a few days after getting his truck out of the shop to let him know how well it was running, Doyle was in Salt Lake City at a rodeo for one of his 24 grandkids. Some of the grandkids even come by the shop and help when needed.
Doyle and Ann’s oldest son is Kelly. He has worked with his dad since he was ten years old. Doyle proudly told me that Kelly is one of only five mechanics in the state that can counter bore all engines, not just Cummins. On his way to being a top-notch mechanic, Kelly got his start by sweeping the floors and then going out on road calls. I actually met Kelly at the accident scene we visited but didn’t realize that it was Doyle’s son. When I told him about wanting to write a story about his dad, he thought it was a good idea. The other kids, in order of birth, are KC, Patsy, Khristie, Tawhnye (named after an Indian) and Torry.
Another family member that I got to meet by “accident” was grandson Tyrell, Khristie and Perry’s son. While up on a bridge taking pictures of the accident scene below, this young man ran up, opened his cell phone and started taking pictures. I asked him if this was the first time he’d been to an accident like this and he said, “No, I’ve been to lots of them with my grandpa.” At that point, I realized that he was one of Doyle’s grandchildren. Tyrell told me about one accident they responded to where a truck had gone down into a ravine, and how it took them three days to get the truck up out of the ravine and back on the road.
Doyle is very proud of all his great employees and had nothing but good things to say about all of them. And his employees told me things like, “It’s the best place I’ve ever worked,” and, “Doyle is more like a friend than an employer.” And many of them said, “He treats us more like family than employees!” These days, you won’t find too many places like this still out there. When I asked if I could take some pictures of all the mechanics, they all said that it was fine and that they’d never done it before. I want to thank them for letting me take the pictures and for talking to me for this story! Doyle has two big wreckers, a little wrecker, a big service truck and a roll-back wrecker. Standing in front of the big wrecker, from left to right (see group photo in front of wrecker), is Jeff Hayslip, Scott Jones, Scott Walker, Adam Heit, Ivan Willardson, James Prisbrey, Hadley Pitts, George Green, Troy Pay, Josh Allan, Perry Allred, Doyle, and Tyrell Allred.
One day after lunch, Doyle took us into town to see the Juab County War Memorial in Nephi, a project that he and his wife Ann worked very hard to help create – and both are very proud of the final outcome. The memorial is one of only five in the U.S. that is a rose garden. Doyle showed us the five pine trees that were planted in honor of the five men who were lost in Pearl Harbor, the place where a cannon will sit once they get it, and all the names on the stones of the walkway that they have sold to help pay for this beautiful memorial. A heart is shaped around the flagpole in the middle of the rose garden, and the building behind the memorial, which is used by the city, is shaped like the state of Utah. With the snow-capped mountains in the background, it is a beautiful place that makes you want to keep coming back.
Being a trucker has its perks, but being a trucker who is also a writer for a magazine has even more. Over the years, I have met some of the nicest people and seen some of the prettiest places, and this month was no exception. And to borrow a phase from my very dear friend Bette Garber, “I can’t make you rich, but I can make you famous!” Next month, on July 3-5, we will be remembering Bette (who passed away late last year) at the “World of Large Cars” show in Carlinville, IL. It doesn’t matter what kind of truck you have, you are welcome to come, wash it, park it, and just relax and enjoy the event with her family and friends. For more details about the show, call Mickey Gwillim at (217) 415-3904 or visit www.gwillimtruckinginc.com.