Robert Heine:
CLASS OF 1971
Irving Crown High SchoolClass of 1971
Carpentersville, IL
Robert's Story
After I graduated I wanted to go to a tech school in Denver,Co. I could not afford the tuition. I wanted to go out with Dick Edginton and Bill Sanders.
I worked all through high school for "Medowdale Upholstery", but like a dumb ass spent my money on junk cars and motor cycles.I wanted to become an auto body /car painter. I allways was car crazy.
I worked for a gas station in Hanover Park (Dons' Union 76) the rest of that year (1971) and all of '72.
While working at that 76 I drove the BIG tow truck they had. Then I went on a ride with an older brother from St.Louis to New York and back in a 18 wheeler.
This was on my vacation week in the spring of '73. That hooked me on the BIG RIG trucks. I could not get a CDL to drive one interstate untill I turned 21.
So in August of 1973 a got my chauffeurs'(thats what they called them back then) and moved to St. Louis area to work for a friend of my brother. I drove a cab over GMC sleeper and pulled a 48 foot flat bed and hauled steel from St.Louis east as far as up state New York and as far south west as Galveston, Texas.
I drove for that company (Thunderbird Motor Freight)
untill spring of 1975.Moved back to Carpentersville and I bought a new Dodge van and turned it into a "Hippy Van"Then I took off about three months.
I have keept in touch with Randy Harling and Craig Lauer, Craig got married so that summer of '75 Randy and I damn near became alcholics. I joined a van club (Midwest Vans ) and we went to a lot of van ins together. Lot of crazy hippies,smoking a lot of weed, but Randy nor I ever in-hailed.
We did however drink gallons,and I mean gallons of red wine.
I got a local driving job for "Pagones Trucking" out of Streamwood and deliverd plastic flower pots to all the K-Mart stores around Chicagoland area.This lasted the rest of '75.
The spring of 1976 I bought a house on the West side of Elgin. In August of '76 I went and got a job with "Mc Lean Trucking" out of the Chicago terminal. At that time it was the fourth largest "Union" trucking company in the U.S. I ran from Chicago east to Clairion...Expand for more
, Pennsylvainia and west to Omaha,Nebraska. Then on January 10th 1986 they closed their doors due to a buy-out sell off.
I got married to Roberta V. Field on November 6th 1982. She is from the Class of "78" Elgin High School.
We "honey mooned" in the South West .She wanted a cruise.I wanted to see land.So we did a five day cruise on a house boat on Lake Mohave.I was the Captain,cook and house cleaner.
After McLean Trucking closed their doors I put my house up for sale the end of February '86 and sold it the next day. I heard that ABF Freight System needed a few good men. The catch was they needed them in the middle of no-where. KINGMAN , ARIZONA. No problem.Kingman Arizona is about 35 minutes from where Bobbie and I spent our honey moon. Lots of sun shine.So on March 3 1986 I went to work for ABF Freight System driving from Kingman west only to points in southern California. For the first 12 years I drove to San Bernardino, Los Angeles ,San Diego,and Long Beach.
I started out on what is known as an extra board driver, the last one I might add.Number 69, really.It was what we call in the industry an "antique board".
This means that every body above me was an old fart! Well now twenty three plus years later I am the "OLD FART" . I run the number one bid to Fresno, Ca. This means I am number one on the senority list. I have been for the last nine years.
So this August I will have thirty three years with the Teamsters and have thirty six years in the industry.
I still keep in touch with Randy Harling and Craig Lauer, and oh yea a juinor to us from Crown.His name is Bob Bittinger,I think he is from the class of '73. I lived right next door to him in Lake Marion, and thought his older sister was "Hot" so we became friends and hung out together.
So to any of you that just might have wondered
" what every happened to that fat kid they called Uncle Albert or Heine pronounced HEINEY, now you know.
I'm still car crazy by the way.I have a 1956 Chevrolet Nomad small block w/four speed and a 1972 El Camino SS small block auto . These are my boy toys.
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