My first adventure in the roofing industry was selling equipment to roofing contractors and suppliers. Between the mid-1970s and mid-1980s, my favorite equipment to sell was truck-mounted hydraulic conveyors, as rooftop delivery service was blossoming throughout many parts of the country.
In those early days, some building supply dealers offered rooftop delivery services, operating “high lift” trucks for loading shingles onto single-story residential roofs. Back then, the high lift was simply a flatbed truck body with a hydraulic system that lifted the entire loaded body to heights of 14-18 feet. It was typically a one-man operation, as the driver also served as the loader. With any luck, he would get a helping hand from the roofing crew.