By ED MERRIMAN

Baker City Herald

Casey Vanderwiele of Triple C Ready Mix earned the nickname andquot;Mr. Luckyandquot; after winning a $120,000 truck while attending the Construction Equipment Exposition earlier this spring in Las Vegas.

Vanderwiele said he makes a habit of attending the Con-Expo trade show held every third year in Las Vegas, but this was the first time he’s ever won anything like the $120,000 Ford F750 service truck equipped with an IMT Dominator II bed.

He won the 15-ton truck in a drawing from McNeilus Truck and Manufacturing out of Dodge Center, Minn.

andquot;It’s a pretty big thing,andquot; Vanderwiele said. andquot;I’d like the company that gave it to me to get some recognition.andquot;

His lucky day started when he stopped by the McNeilus booth at the trade show to say hello and farewell to his longtime McNeilus factory representative Michael Baker, who retired just before the trade show and had volunteered to man the booth that day and attend a company reception that night.

andquot;He told me to fill out a card and come to the reception that night, where I got to meet our new rep, Brad Foland out of Portland,andquot; Vanderwiele said. Meeting up with Baker (formerly of Baker City) was his first stoke of luck leading up to winning the $120,000 truck.

andquot;We were there looking at rock crushers and a little bit of everything else,andquot; Vanderwiele said, adding that the trade show covered 2 million square feet of exhibit space.

Vanderwiele started his trucking career right out of high school, when he built logging roads. But by age 18 he saw the timber industry declining so he shifted gears and founded the ready mix company in 1989, which he now owns with his father, Cass, and his younger brother, Corey – hence the name Triple C Ready Mix, located at 19876 Highway 86, Baker City.

The drawing wasn’t open to just any truckers, he said. andquot;To be eligible you had to be affiliated with a ready mix company,andquot; which he says was his second stroke of luck.

When he filled out the card for the truck drawing, there was a space on the bottom of the card that asked, andquot;Why do you do what you do.andquot;

Vanderwiele’s response was straight from the heart: andquot;It’s my life and I love it.andquot;

Later that evening, at the McNeilus company reception, Vanderwiele said eight people who entered the drawing for a free truck were chosen and asked to come up and draw keys out of a hat.

andquot;There were eight keys in the hat, and we each had to draw a key and try to start the truck,andquot; Vanderwiele said.

People inside the building were watching through picture windows and others watched on big screen TVs.

andquot;I was the eighth guy to try. I kissed the key and said my wife’s name (Tara) for good luck, and when I turned the key it started,andquot; Vanderwiele said.

After he won the truck on what he says was his third stroke of luck that day, he said andquot;everyone in the corporation congratulated me, including the president of the company.andquot;

andquot;After that, everyone I seen down there said ‘there’s ‘Mr. Lucky,’andquot; Vanderwiele said. Even the bartender at the hotel where he stayed wouldn’t let him pay for a beer because it was his lucky night.

Vanderwiele said everyone at McNeilus Truck and Manufacturing was happy he won the truck because they said they’d rather see a guy from a small town company with a fleet of six cement trucks win, as opposed to a big city ready mix company with dozens of trucks.

In addition to his half-dozen cement trucks, Vanderwiele said his truck fleet includes seven dump trucks and a variety of other types of trucks, for a total of 20 rigs, counting the $120,000 service truck he won in Las Vegas.

In addition to ready mix cement work, Vanderwiele said trucks at Triple C Ready Mix are used for excavation projects and sand and gravel work except his new truck.

andquot;We use it once in a while for mechanical uses, but most of the time I’ve been keeping it hid, so it doesn’t get messed up,andquot; Vanderwiele said. andquot;I am almost afraid to use it. It is the first new truck we ever had.andquot;