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golf course. “I haven’t played much in the last cou- ple of years, so I’m probably at a 15 handicap,” he says with a hint of frustration that he has let his scorecards slip slightly. The next morning, we took to one of his favor- ite home courses — Los Altos Golf Course. “Grow- ing up, I used to live right over there,” Charlie says, pointing across Interstate 40, which runs adjacent to the course. “I would walk and cross under the drainage tunnel to play here.” He plays with restraint and keeps his emotions in check even after a wayward tee shot. “I used to throw my clubs when I was younger,” Charlie says, laughing. “I don’t do that now.” It’s this kind of discipline that makes Charlie a top-notch driver and trainer. “Charlie plays to people’s strengths and works with the skills they have,” says Paul Harris, vice president of operations at Navajo. “He is more of a teacher than a trainer. Most of the trainees he produces are superior to other new hires.” STARTING OUT Charlie’s roots in trucking begin with his maternal grandfather, Elmer Henson, and his dad, Dan Ham- ilton. Dan was a regional driver hauling ice cream and milk for a dairy. Henson owned a farm, and in addition to transporting his own goods, he also delivered propane for 20 years. At one point, the in- laws worked for the same company driving a milk tanker. “I used to go with my dad as much as I could in the summer months between Little League and that kind of stuff,” Charlie says. Dan taught his young son the basics of driv- ing, but was forced to retire at age 40 due to a heart condition that left him in a wheelchair for the remainder of his life. “I was only 13 years old, but the basics were there,” Charlie says. “He showed us how things worked.” Charlie went to technical school to become a Charlie’s laid-back personality can mask his competitive nature. He always carries his golf clubs in the truck with him, and often can be found at the Los Altos Golf Course in his hometown of Albuquerque when not working. welder and was hired at Don J. Cummings Co. In addition to his welding duties, he began hauling produce to the East Coast and the company’s build- ing materials and equipment on the backhaul. “My first trip out by myself was to New York City … Queens. It was nerve-wracking,” Char- lie says, laughing at the naiveté of a 22-year-old wanting to prove his worth. “All I had was a Rand McNally foldout map of New York City and a piece of paper from a sales rep who had it marked out for me. It was overwhelming.” After a decade of pulling double duty, Charlie landed a job at TWX Transportation and from there to Westway Express, where he hauled, among other things, swinging meat. “Swinging meat was a whole new game,” Char- lie says. “The shorter stuff like lamb and pigs was a lot like driving a tanker truck of liquid without the ballast. But the older drivers helped me a lot with good advice.” Charlie’s dad, Dan Hamilton, and maternal grandfather, Elmer Henson, worked for the same company pulling a tanker truck in early 1958. 24 TRUCKERS NEWS MAY 2011 INTO A GROOVE As we make our way around the course, Charlie’s golf game begins to settle into consistency as the COURTESY CHARLIE HAMILTON RANDY GRIDER