Page 28 - ATR 5 2014 web

funded his move and the operations,
his grandson recalled. Eventually, H.E.
would turn his 100 or so trucks (many
were owner-operator) toward road con-
struction work.
The Interstate Highway Act of 1956,
as well as the eventual development
of the Arkansas River Lock and Dam
projects in the 1960s, opened up oppor-
tunity for H.E.’s trucks in the Natural
State, so he and son Ed, who was born
in 1939, and the rest of the McConnell
h.e. mcConnell ii - 1960, I-30 bridge facing south crew headed east.
H.E. McConnell, who started his
business in Pennsylvania in 1931, was
known as a go-getter, hustling for jobs,
and a straight-shooting boss during the
workday that would also be the kind
of guy to pal around with after work.
Ed McConnell, who died in 2009, was
described as a complete opposite of his
father. More of the mild-mannered
type, Hugh III takes after his father. He
grew up seeing his mom and dad work
together for 30 years. Susie, his mom,
lives in retirement in Hot Springs.
“In the late ’70s, the company
transitioned from dump trucks because
the road building was pretty much out,
the market was pretty much flooded,”
hugh edward mcConnell iii and h.e mcConnell sr. (left and second from left)
Hugh said. “I remember Dad saying he
moved to delivering more dry-bulk-type
material. There were a lot of trucks, not
a lot of work, so we got into dry-bulk
“we haVe beeN so blessed. we haVe a really items like sand, fertilizer, lime, things
good grouP of guys. they are like our family like that.”

aNd we feel resPoNsible to them. if we make a
decisioN it’s Not just based oN if we’re goiNg pErfECT MaTCH
Erin had graduated from Southern
to make it. it effects eVeryoNe.” Arkansas University in her native
Magnolia and was working at what
—eriN mccoNNell was then Metropolitan Bank when she
met Hugh McConnell, who happened
to bank there along with the entire
McConnell clan.
“I know she didn’t marry me for
Today, McConnell’s primary busi- Interstate 30 construction in Little Rock my money,” Hugh joked.
ness is hauling cement or other dry and North Little Rock in 1960. “I got to meet his parents because
bulk commodities (fly ash, sand) in It was the road work that brought they all banked there. We started dating
pneumatic trailers for use in the con- H.E. McConnell to Central Arkansas and got married,” Erin said, continuing
struction industry. Before the shift to after the coal-hauling business had run the story.
the pneumatic trailers, though, they its course in Oklahoma. H.E. was lured “She had a weak moment,” Hugh
carted rock, sand and other construc- to Bokoshe, Okla., from Pennsylvania interjected.
tion necessities to such projects as the by the S.C. Evans Coal Company, which Erin then spent eight years work-

28 aRkansas tRuCking RepoRt | issue 5 2014