Retired trailer mechanic, Teamster, has more than 9,500 trucking patches

David Ross shows off some of his nearly 10,000 trucking company patches from all over the world. (Courtesy: DAVID ROSS)

By DOROTHY COX
The Trucker Staff

11/4/2009

The company patches, along with 350 company hats, 50 carrier coffee mugs and 22,000 trucking letterheads, take up one whole room in his home.

“They take up a lot of room in my house; don’t ask my wife about it,” he joked. In reality, his wife Barbara drives Dave and his collection around to various shows and his son Jason also helps him with the hobby.

When only 16, Ross began working for L.J. Beal & Son trucking company, now located in Cement City, Mich., sweeping the floor and learning other tasks. Immediately after graduation, he went back to work at Beal and hasn’t looked back.

Ross said he never aspired to drive an 18-wheeler, himself, but he’s enjoyed working on them. He worked mostly on trailers, greasing them, adjusting the brakes, cleaning out the tankers, “busting down brake shoes,” and putting on new linings on them. “We did all the in-house brake stuff [at Beal],” he said.

Ross acquired his first trucking company patch at age 14. While visiting his grandparents he saw a sign for Bellevue Trucking in Holland, Ohio, and later wrote the company asking them for a uniform patch. That first Bellevue patch set the hook and Ross has been collecting them ever since.

While at Beal & Son he noticed they had a fancy sign but found they had no uniform patch. He inquired at a patch company to see if they could make a patch for Beal & Son and they did.

“I’d noticed other drivers had uniform patches. I thought it was time we had a patch, too. Then I decided to start collecting them from other trucking companies,” Ross explained.

Sometimes he shows off his collection at small local truck shows and as a retired Teamster he also was proud to have his collection viewed by Teamster General President Jim Hoffa at a local council meeting.

He has part of the collection in a huge scrapbook given to him years ago by his grandmother. The rest are on foam hobby board.

Dave’s been a mechanic on Beal trailers for most of his life (four years part time and 30 years full time) and is now retired from Beal and is also retired from 32 years of service with the Columbia Township Fire and Rescue Squad in Brooklyn, Mich.

But Ross doesn’t sit around resting on his laurels — or his patches either — he washes dishes at a nearby truck stop during the week; it seems he can’t get enough of being around big trucks.

His dream is to visit the Walcott Truckers Jamboree next July. He lives about 12 hours away and wanted to go this year but his plans fell through.

In the meantime, Ross says if anyone out there has a trucking company patch he’ll be glad to take it off their hands and add it to his collection. In fact, he said he’s interested in anything “trucking related.”

He can be reached at (260) 768-4643. Or, write him at P.O. Box 621, Shipshewana, IN, 46565.

Dorothy Cox of The Trucker staff can be reached for comment at dlcox@thetrucker.com.

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