Evans looks out over North Carolina’s Fuquay Quarry. www.martinmarietta.com | September/October 2017 The Conveyor 23 she turns to a notepad perched beside her windowsill. There, she keeps her own tally of the trucks that enter the quarry and the drivers typically found behind each wheel. “It’s just good customer service. Do you know how much it means to these guys to pull up and hear their names?” she asks without expecting a reply. “The notebook helps me cheat a little, but in general it’s no more than a couple of weeks before I really know a driver if they’re coming through regularly.” To Evans, knowing a driver doesn’t just mean memorizing his vehicle and face. Truckers approach her window as old friends. They smile and tell stories of their time on the job. They flash photos of their wives and children. They tell jokes and playfully rip on other drivers in the community. She enjoys every moment. “I tell my friends I have the greatest job in the world,” she says. “I tell them that I weigh trucks at a rock quarry.” Beyond just a friendly face, however, Evans plays a crucial role in the quarry’s safety culture. While the notepad helps her with details about newer drivers, it also helps her identify which are in need of site-specific safety training, which she then administers. She’s similarly expected to monitor safety training when Office Manager Donald Collins is pulled away from Fuquay by work at other district operations. In these instances, she’s largely responsible for greeting quarry visitors and making sure each is prepared to enter the site. “Martin Marietta is mindful of safety and all of us on the front lines are expected to be mindful of it as well,” she says. “As a weighmaster, I’m often the gatekeeper to the yard. If I’m here alone, it’s my responsibility to make sure all of our visitors and customers know that safety is the top priority.” Though she rarely enters the operational end of the quarry, her contributions to the operation along with the relationships she’s formed with Fuquay’s customers and employees are more than enough for Evans. “I enjoy talking with our customers. A lot of the guys on our crew are newer and I love listening over the radio as they pull together to really focus on the job and getting it done safely,” she says. “This job has also been educational. There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t learn something new. At this rate, I’ll plan to work here as long as I’m strong enough to lift my arm and open this window.” ▼
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