It began with a trickle of curious children who clambered into the driver’s seat of El Paso Water’s heavy equipment vehicles on display at the Touch A Truck event April 16 at Cherry Hill School.
But once a child triumphantly tugged on the air horn of EPWater’s heavy equipment, a steady stream of curious kids and their parents approached Truck Driver Rene Olivas and Heavy Equipment Operator Hector Flores, eager to explore the side boom crane truck and a loader.
Inquiring minds
Even at work, Olivas finds himself answering questions a lot about his equipment: What does your truck do? How much can it lift?
“If I see a big machine coming down the highway, I always wonder what it can do,” said Olivas, a 28-year employee. “These events are fun. It’s like going to a party and getting paid for it.”
“I like seeing the kids have fun,” said Flores, a utility employee of six years. “I want to show them that it’s a nice career to go into.”
Throughout the Sunday event, Olivas and Flores answered questions from children and parents alike about their equipment, EPWater careers and also where they train to drive the big trucks.
Both explained how the loader is used in the stormwater system, such as removing sand, silt and debris from channels and fixing erosion in ponding areas. The side boom crane assists in pulling pumps out of the ground and plant maintenance, even recovering Bobcat equipment stuck in stormwater channels.
“I have fun every day at work because of the different jobs we do,” Flores said. “To me, it’s not work; I am out here playing with toys.”
Climbing aboard
From the size of the tires to the actual trucks themselves, both little boys and girls could not wait to get up close and explore at the interactive event.
Having missed last year’s event, parent Michelle Walsh could not contain her two boys’ enthusiasm on Sunday. Her boys and a friend excitedly piled into the loader’s bucket to smile for photos.
“If you ask them what they want to be when they grow up, one wants to drive a front loader and the other wants to drive a garbage truck,” Walsh said. “As long as they are happy, they can do whatever they want.”