A real live dump truck

As some of you who know me will know, I love dump trucks.?I’ve loved them since I was a little girl, they’re my favorite truck (runner-up: cement truck).?When I started working for BHP, I hoped that I’d get to see one someday…but I didn’t get my hopes up: I work in the corporate office in the middle of Perth’s CBD (Downtown, for you Americans) and there aren’t exactly a whole lot of dump trucks there.

Which is why I was so excited when Edgar Basto recently offered me the opportunity to travel up to our Yandi mine site, brief the staff there on our Neurodiversity mission and our recent efforts…and see a real live dump truck!

I took a 6am flight out of Perth Airport to Yandi.?I had never been to the ‘outback’ before; I’m a city girl through-and-through.?Descending into Yandi was spellbinding…I’ve never seen anything like it.?I’ve seen photos of the bush before, but photos don’t do it any justice.?Going on a rural holiday has never appealed to me before, but after this experience, I’m seriously considering booking a holiday tour up north.

The people at Yandi were so friendly and welcoming; I felt like ‘one of the gang’ in short order!?I got to speak with the New Admin team, the maintenance team, and the production superintendents about Neurodiversity.?Mechanical engineering and rural/site-based work are both areas of work that appeal highly to neurodivergent minds; the best companies are the ones that recognize that and capitalize on it.?I was heartened to see that our sites are on the same page with regards to supporting Neurodiversity; people jumped right in with questions and ideas about how they could support NeuroBHP at Yandi.

Then I was taken on a brief tour of the mine site – via car, because walking it would have been impossible!?There were giant conveyor belts leading between all the different ore crushers, like a humongous roller coaster (I suggested that they sled down the ramps when they weren’t running; I think they’ll take that under advisement).?We drove past one of our mining pits and saw all the dump trucks putter in and out as they brought up ore to be crushed.

And finally, the pièce de résistance…getting to ride in a dump truck!?I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen until they had me suiting up in safety gear.?I figured I might just get to see a dump truck, maybe get a photo standing next to one.?The feeling as I walked towards ‘my’ dump truck was unreal.?Climbing up the stairs to get to the cab felt like it wasn’t even happening; like I would get to the summit and find that it just led to another office room, Thank God You’re Here-style.?Got you!?You really thought you were going on a dump truck, didn’t you??Haha, we got you right up until the end.?I flipped the switch to retract the steps, and buckled myself in to the cab.

I didn’t drive it - totally understandable, I haven’t done any of the safety training.?Also, I don’t even have a normal car driver’s license; no way I should be driving something that big!?No, that honor was left to my new favorite site worker and best mate, Ben.?Ben drove us right down into the pit, to look I thought…nope, he drove right up and let the loader fill up the truck bed with real live ore!?Then we drove up again and tipped it into the crusher!?I know you’re not supposed to use exclamation points this much, but I can’t see any other way to communicate to you just how amazing all of this was for me!?Honestly, I’m having a hard time just sticking to one ‘!’ per sentence!?I just…it was everything.?It was everything I ever wanted.?

And then I flew home.?

I was glad to be heading home after a busy day like this.?I think I ended up going to bed around 8:30pm that day; I was absolutely wiped out.?I set a new personal best for ‘number of speeches given in one day’ and fulfilled a childhood dream of mine.?Took two flights and got my first sighting of red dirt.?I’ll never forget it.

Now…where can I talk about Neurodiversity next?