By the way, the "12 Commandments of Dump Trucking" in the manual posted above made me laugh:
THE TWELVE COMMANDMENTS OF DUMP TRUCKING
1. Thou shalt NOT dump while on unlevel ground having one set of tires more than 4-inches higher than thy other set, for
surely one day thy load will hang-up on the low side and thy dump truck will fall down beside thee. Great oaths and sworn
statements as to how many times thou hast dumped thy load in worst places shall be to no purpose for dump truck
buddies will forsake thee, thy motor pool officer will bring forth a statement of charges, and thy prospects for future driving
anything bigger than a wheelbarrow with leather gloves will be much in doubt.
2. Thou shalt be darn sure that thy PTO and thy hydraulic pump are NOT engaged whilst thy travel upon the road or
highways. The view of 12-miles of power and telephone cable draped gracefully around thy cab protector and hoist
cylinder is not pleasing to responsible authorities and, further, the sight of thy dump body resting firmly propped as a third
pier of a two pier bridge doth stir them to such great anger that thou art compelled to dwell in their guardhouse for many
days and many nights and to be deprived of feminine companionship, strong drink, Saturday football, and all pay and
allowances during that time.
3. Thou shalt NOT permit another rig to dump whilst alongside thine, not to thy left and not to thy right, lest the dump
truck driver be lacking in skill and upset his truck on top of thine. The humor of such an occurrence may elicit smiles and
boisterous laughter from thy buddies but will not be apparent to thy sergeant and should only be reported unto him after
determining that in neither hand does he hold a tire billy or other blunt instrument.
4. Thou shalt be certain that thy hydraulic system and thy hydraulic system's hoses are in good condition at all times lest
a hydraulic system malfunction or a worn hose blow out at a time whilst thou tryest to dump a 40,000 pound load, 30 miles
from the motor pool in 15 degree windy weather and thou findest it necessary to unload it 10-pounds at a time with a
shovel, hand operated, long handle, M1A7.
5. Thou shalt permit filling of thy dump body only up to within 6 inches of the top of thy sides or thy side-boards and,
further, thou shalt NOT allow rocks, gravel, sand, or any other commodity to spill from thy vehicle lest they cut a tire or
bash in the windshield of the Provost Marshal behind thee. A calamity of that nature may cause thee and thy dump truck
to be considered a hazard to the motoring public in general and Provost Marshals in particular and thee to be considered
unfit to fill out dump truck trip tickets, carry a dump truck license in thy chaindrive wallet, or other emblems of thy dump
truck driving profession.
6. Thou shalt NOT permit dozers or loaders to make any contact with thy dump truck, neither from the front, nor from
the rear, nor from either side, for the appearance of thy truck will be much the worse after such contact, thy motor pool
sergeant will rant and rave, and thy combined depot maintenance shop rascals will make thee and thy outfit, pay dearly. in
both downtime and money to correct the damages.
7. Thou shalt become wise in the nature of the commodities that thou haulest. If a load of lime or cement is allowed to
get wet, it will stay in thy dump bed forever; if a load of wet sticky clay is dumped, prevail on thy buddy to observe that thy
load is not hanging up in thy dump body, else thou may return with a load on.
8. Thy tires shall be checked for adequate pressure daily, and tire valve caps kept tight, and tires whacked with a club
every time thou stoppest, lest thy first knowledge of a flat is when thy buddy drives along side of thee and waves, blows
his air horns, and points meaningless gestures toward thy rear tandems, saying "Dum Dum Dump, Thou Art On Fire!"
9. Thou shalt drive thy dump truck as if it were an arm of thyself and neither lug thy engine or over-rev thy engine, and
never crash shift thy aux box on-the-run, and avoid rocks and potholes that may be strewn in thy path to test thy ability. If
the time is cometh when thou must take thy truck through the valley of rough going, provide her with tender loving care at
the first opportunity for truly thou art a professional dump truck driver.
10. Thou shalt NOT use ether and glow plugs at the same time else thy intake manifold shall verily depart from thy
engine. In freezing weather divert thy exhaust through thy dump body for a little heat goeth a long way to prevent freezing
of thy load to thy body.
11. When thou dumpeth hot asphalt in a paver hopper, have thy paver operator signal thee to keep the hopper loaded,
neither too full nor too empty. When thy body is hoisted too high and thou overloadeth the hopper, hot asphalt will rise up
and heap hot coals upon thy tail, taillamps, mud flaps and even thy brake chambers.
12. Blessed are the careful and wise dump truck drivers for they generally remain drivers of big dump trucks and seldom
revert to pushing wheelbarrows. Thy shalt respect, honor, and obey thy dump truck and her wiley ways. Thou shalt
consort with other dump truck operators and in the telling of tall tales, gleen from them their dump trucking secrets. Thou
shalt practice the art of dump trucking common sense to perfect thy profession. Verily, then it will be said that he who
heeds and obeys all these commandments and covets his dump truck is a dump truck driver and not a dumb, truck driver.
I will check with him tomorrow to see who all he has called. I know he has called a couple that specialize in military trucks.
