[tdm12017]

Hey guys,

Since alot of our cars get delivered to Port Hueneme, i just wanted to share a story that the local paper did on some of the guys that transport our cars from the dock to the preformance center. i find it pretty cool that alot of them are veterans that served our country. (there is also a navy base in Port hueneme, and i'm proud to say my dad was stationed there)

Driven by a love of cars, camaraderie
Job entails transporting vehicles just off cargo ship
By Karen Quincy Loberg n
kloberg@VenturaCountyStar.com
Monday, June 16, 2008

There are employees who drive fancy cars, work with friends and go on vacation when they feel like it.

In fact, there are dozens of them at the Port of Hueneme, transport drivers hired through a temporary employment agency to move the new cars arriving on cargo ships from the port to dealerships.

Like rows of corn waiting for harvest, BMW, Rolls-Royce, Volvo, Cadillac, Mini Cooper, Lexus and other vehicles are lined up, ready for drivers. Sometimes as many as 800 cars are unloaded in a day.

From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., the drivers make the loop from the port to the receiving companies. A shuttle follows the caravan as the last driver exits the port. After the deliveries are made, the drivers carpool back for the next string of cars. Most of the drivers are seniors, often veterans, and the bonds they share are as important as the money they earn.

"We go to the VA, suggest which doctors to go with. We carpool and go to the motorcycle meet. We're pretty close-knit guys," said John Cabrera, 57.

He is a Vietnam veteran who has been transporting cars from the port for 2 1/2 years. Cabrera refers to his colleagues as "brothers."

Nick Brown chose this job after retiring because he always liked cars, but the friendships keep him coming back. Joe "Cat" Catrambone is one of the men he has come to know. "He's the Holy Grail in the van," says Brown, referring to Catrambone's ability to tell a story.

At lunchtime, Catrambone regales his colleagues with stories of his missions involving central fire control with the U.S. Air Force during World War II and the Korean War. His hand glides smoothly over the top of the lunch table in the break room as he describes a flight of his B-29.

Bill Moeck, a 63-year-old Oxnard man retired from the Navy after 23 years, slips into a BMW Z4. He explains the excessive bumpiness in the ride is because the car is in transportation mode and says his favorite is the BMW 5 series.

In his five years on the job, he's made friends with the others, and on days off they often get together and go fishing.

"I like the camaraderie," says 71-year-old Gary Rice of Ventura, wearing a stiff new Seabee hat, but adding the money doesn't hurt. "I'm saving up a little extra change. Pension doesn't go too far here in California."


Link to article: http://www.venturacountystar.com/new...s-camaraderie/

[J. Diddy]

That's pretty cool!