Did you know that a truck driver helps protect your business and home from backed-up sewers? No one gives much thought to the hidden infrastructure until there is a yucky incident.

Sewers need to be regularly cleaned to prevent blockages and back-ups. Pay attention the next time you see a vacuum truck with a reel sitting on its front end, parked next to a sewer. The driver’s most likely suctioning out dirt, rocks, plant material and debris that have found their way into the system.

Jon Cuomo, supervisor at Environmental 360 Solutions, is a driver whose work in Sudbury, Ont., helps keep sewer contents going with the flow.

Some days he could be out doing preventive maintenance along city streets, flushing out sewers. On occasion, there are roots growing inside. He uses a specialized high-pressure tip that sends spinning jets of water to blast them out.

On others, the 35-year-old will be in an industrial setting or at a construction site performing a hydro excavation. He’s also called when there is a diesel or oil spill, in which case his truck helps suck up the material and prevent its spread.

Cuomo does not mind getting his hands dirty. After completing high school, pursuing further studies didn’t interest him. He joined the construction industry where he enjoyed the physical work.

Trucking path

After spending a few years wielding shovels and hammers, Cuomo had a revelation. At a job site, a colleague asked him to move some rocks with a bulldozer, after giving him an overview of the controls. “Wow, that was a lot better than working with a shovel doing manual labor,” was his first thought.

Circumstances at the time forced the construction company to lay him off work. Cuomo enrolled in a second career program and learnt how to operate bulldozers, backhoes and excavators. There was a promotion at the time that offered a D/Z licence as well. He grabbed that opportunity.

Despite earning the certification, he found it difficult to find employment as he didn’t possess experience in operating that type of equipment.

Career ladder

That’s when a trucking career beckoned. His brother told him about a small company that performed sewer cleaning tasks and inspections. Cuomo was hired and worked as a helper for a year, learning the ropes. He also got to use his D/Z licence to drive a truck.

A year later he was promoted to an operator and was given his own truck. He was with the company for about four years before it was acquired by his present employer.

Cuomo said he has had the opportunity to operate different types of equipment and gain additional experience and was promoted to a supervisory role a year later.

Focus on safety

The job does not involve driving long distances. “We usually stay pretty local, usually driving from site to site,” he said. “I may drive 5 km and park there for half an hour while doing my job. Then I may have to get water and return to finish flushing [the sewer].”

The father of four is hyper-focused on safety. The constant flow of traffic on the streets makes for dangerous working conditions. He makes sure proper traffic controls are in place.

“We’re working on the roads and people are not slowing down. You’re trying to protect yourself and them. People are in a rush. They knock your cones over or almost hit our drivers,” he said.

Future path

Cuomo is still keen to add to his skill set. The next step is upgrading to a A/Z licence. That will allow him to move bigger equipment at job sites and assist his company when other drivers need time off work.

And after spending years outdoors, he wouldn’t mind getting indoors to utilize the experience he’s gained from his supervisory role. “I don’t know if I will be driving truck forever,” he said. And that’s why he is open to taking additional training so he can manage people.