SEXTON TRUCK LINE

by Ray H. Sexton, Sr.

Entry B23 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

1931-A2 International truck purchased new February 1931
by Ray and Dorothy Sexton - still in storage in 1988

Sexton Truck Fleet 1956

The Sexton Truck Line was born Feb. 1931
when my wife, Dorothy, and I purchased our
first truck, a new 1931 1 1/2 ton A2 Interna-
tional complete with a new 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 foot box
and stockrack.

Them days we had all trail roads and all
vehicles had single tires. My truck had what
was called then Balloon tires which was
34" x 7" which spread out and stayed on top
of sand a little better.

We hauled everthhing from gravel, rock,
coal, sand and hay which had to be loaded
and unloaded by hand along with feed,
livestock (4 cattle to a load) and all other
ranch supplies. Many times we hauled out to
Palmer's Store or out to Amadore Yount
north west about 45 miles which would
usually take from 5 A.M. and if we had good
luck, get back to Mullen, Nebr. about 7 P.M.
At that time we lived in Mrs. Cleavenger's
house, the one Jennie Wright lives in now.
Irene was born April 20, 1932.

In 1933 we got our second truck, a used
1931 International with an 11 foot bed, the
biggest one in town. We hauled as far south
west as Pete Tucker's, Tom Quinn's, Elmer
Hammond's, J.H. Vinton ranch and many
others as there were 8 or 10 times as many
ranches then as there are now. Clyde was born
Aug. 18, 1934. In 1935 we bought a new 1935
B3 truck and built a 12 foot box which we
could haul more bulky loads on.

In Oct. 1934 we moved to the Bill Gruenig
house, where Merle Yaryan lives now. We
lived there till 1936 when we moved in our
own home we had built, the place we are
living now. Fifty-one years in this place.

Dorothy and I would load 2 loads and take
them to different ranches. She got to be a
good sandhill driver. She and another lady
even changed a flat rear tire with a load of
cottoncake on, on the way out to J.H. Vinton
ranch, now known as the Vinton Cattle Co.

In 1936 we bought a new G30 truck and
started a Freight Run from Grand Island,
Nebr. to Alliance, Nebr. which we operated
till last of 1937 when we sold Freight Run to
Live Wire transfer of Alliance. Local business
was getting better so we bought a new 1937
International C30 truck. Of course we traded
off some of the older trucks. We were hauling
more cattle, hogs, horses etc as time went.

In 1938 we bought a new 1938 C35 truck
and built a 16 foot platform and stock rack.
This was our first dual wheeled truck. In 1939
we bought a D30 truck and box.

Mr. Benton, the railroad section Foreman,
that lived in Seneca hired us to go to Trinity,
Tx. to move his daughter and family to
Crawford, Nebr.I tell you that took three long
days traveling each way, then another day to
Crawford to unload. Gave the new truck a
good break in. On good roads we traveled 35
to 37 miles per hour, of course everything
west of Grand Island was gravel or just dirt
roads. #30 Hiway was paved but narrow.

In 1940 I bought a new DS30 and dump box
and sent it up to Cody, Nebr. to haul on
Hiway construction for Lee and Johnson
Construction Co. out of South Sioux City,
Nebr. Harry Piel, Dorothy's brother was
foreman.

In 1941 I moved my first house, the old
Tom Reigle home which set about 6 miles
north then 1/2 miles east of Mullen. The house
set in a sandy hole and it was a big job to get
it out of sand. I hired one of Franke
Construction Co. #60 Catapillar tractors to
move it with. Took it south west of Mullen
to old Fred Evans place for Carue Gentry of
Hyannis, Nebr. 17 miles from Mullen. Then
I went south about 5 miles and brought in the
old Dad Younkin house that Stub St. Onge
had bought and had it brought to Mullen. It
is the house that Buck Brown lives in at this
time. I had 4 trucks and hired 6 or 7 men and
had to do something to pay them. I moved
about 35 houses in to Mullen and several
hundred around Broken Bow, Nebr. to
Alliance and Gordon, Nebr. and all in
between.

In 1943 we built the stucco garage north
west of our home, had a place to work on
trucks. We had bought 2 single axle stock
semis which I sold to George Sticka to haul
his Rodeo stock in. As they improved the
country roads we got bigger trucks and
hauled bigger loads and got farther out in the
hills. We were hauling livestock to Omaha,
Nebr., Grand Island, Broken Bow and Al-
liance Sale Barns and also to feeders that
came in and bought cattle from ranchers.
Mann McIntosh, John Buechler and Grover
Sturtz from Mullen and others around the
country bought locally and at Sale Barns and
we delivered a lot of livestock for them too.
We hauled horses for Eck Cox to Abbie, Nebr.

Later we took on a feed dealership and
delivered 1500 to 2000 ton of feed to ranches
each year. We bought crawler tractors and
and the 40's and dug basements, leveled
ground, filled blowouts, cleaned brush on
rivers and wet valleys, also moved hay stacks
for ranchers until they got big equipment so
they could do their own moving.

In 1948 we bought 2 new L190 Internation-
al tractors and 2 40' Semis, thought we had
something. By 1952 we had 4 L&R 190
tractors and 4 41' Semis.

The State Laws restricted us on length of
units and on gross weights also. In 1954 we
bought from Neils Service in Alliance the
first two CO195 gas tractors that came west
of Mississippi River also picked up two 34'
semis to match. You see Iowa had a 45-foot
limit on length and we were hauling a lot in
Iowa. We bought our first diesel tractor in
1958, it was a Diamond T with 220 horsepow-
er motor and a new 41' Wilson semi trailer,
length went to 50 feet. In 1960 we bought one
International diesel - 220 H.P. Motor and one
with 250 H.P. Motor. Both twinscrews with
5-speed transmissions and 2-speed axles.
Also our first two pots both 41'. By this time
we had an average of 8 men on the payroll,
steady, and several others to take extra runs.
In 1952 we had traded for 3 acres just west
of our home and had it leveled off. Franke
Construction did the dirt moving and Ma-
thews Chevrolet got the dirt which they used
to fill the hole where the Lariet building is
now and north half of block. This block was
from 6' to 8' deep, took a lot of dirt. We used
the leveled off ground for a truck parking lot
for a few years. In 1962 we put up the steel
bldg. west of our house, which is 50'x80's with
a concrete floor. We have an 18'x78' shop and
the balance storage space.

We have put about 100 loads of rock on our
drive way and parking lot, as time went on
we bought more diesel tractors and 2 45' flat
semis and pots. A few people was skeptical of
the pots but now days 90 % of cattle are
hauled in them. We prorated our fleet in
about 15 states so we could travel in them
legally, of course we had to keep records of
all trips and the mileage and fuel bought in
each state and had to file a report to each
state we were prorated in. This is a lot of work
doing this.

In the 1970's we had 5 pots and 3 semis and
we hauled cattle from or to as far as Virginia
east - Texas south - Idaho west and No.
Dak. to the north. We done our own mainte-
nance on every thing except motor transmis-
sions and differentials.

Ray Henry, our son, has worked with us all
his life, except the time he was in the army.
It meant a lot to have him on the job as he
could take over any time or place. Our son,
Clyde helped a few years till he moved to a
ranch. We sold out to Ray Henry and Joan
1-1-76 and they are still operating truck line.

I believe Sexton Truck Line is the oldest
business under the same name and family in
Hooker Co. Our letter heads and statements
carried - Sexton Truck Line, Ray H. and
Dorothy Sexton, The Biggest Bull Shippers
in Hooker County.