A convoy of 20 trucks filled the Salem Middle School carpool lane on Friday for the annual Truck Fair. The rain cleared up just in time for about 600 sixth-graders from Apex and Salem Middle schools to hear presentations from a veterinarian, librarian, fire inspector, truck driver, U.S. Navy officer and many others.

Fire inspector David Dillon showed the equipment on a Town of Apex fire engine. “I’m in my 19th year, and I’m still training. That’s the neatest thing about the job — we’re always learning and having fun,” he said.

While many students think first about the excitement aspect of firefighting, Dillon pointed out that job security is an important element. “We have good retirement and benefits; we’re one of the essential departments,” Dillon said. “Some students may see parents or family friends losing their jobs; we’re still working, we’re still here.”

Down the road, librarian Judy Packer greeted students at the Bookmobile.

Katherine Randle of Apex Middle School asked, “Do you ever hit a bump that makes books fall off the shelves?”

“Yes — I’ve made the books fall off one side of the truck,” Packer said.

“I’ve learned to take turns more slowly.”

Roger Brock, an instructor from Wake Tech, stood beside an 18-wheeler cab and held up a bottle of water. “Look at the diameter of this bottle.

The pin holding the trailer onto the cab is only the width of this bottle,” he said. Brock said that trucking needs not only drivers but mechanics, communications people and computer tech employees.

Dressed in camouflage, Petty Officer Benjamin Burford of the U.S. Navy stood at his charcoal-gray vehicle. At 28 years old, he has been in the Navy for 11 years — since he was 17.

“Oh my gosh!” the 11- and 12-year-old students screamed. “Seventeen years old!”

As students scrambled onto the back of the truck, Burford said he had been to Afghanistan, Iraq, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, Italy, Greece, Hawaii, Guam and many U.S. states. “Being in the military is something that was in my head since I was little,” he said.

Veterinarian Alice Baker sat on the back of the Apex Equine Hospital truck. She held up tools she uses to file horses’ teeth down as well as a tube she has to thread down into horses’ stomachs because they can’t throw up. Students learned that after four years of college, veterinarians must go to school four more years, then one to four more after that to specialize in small- or large-animal care.

The best part of her job? “I like being outside all day,” Baker said.

The worst? “Getting woken up in the middle of the night.”

Apex student Kelley Morgan, who is allergic to pet dander, said, “I am learning about jobs I hadn’t thought about before; it’s opened my eyes.”

Apex Middle School Career Development Coordinator Kathy Block would agree. “The fair exposes students to different career pathways and about how everything we do in school relates to jobs,” she said. “This encourages them to do well in school.”