Gillette sits on the high plains of the Powder River Basin, surrounded by major surface coal mines and oil and gas fields. I-90 runs east and west through the city, heading west toward Buffalo and Sheridan and east toward Moorcroft, Sundance and the Black Hills. US 14 and US 16 run through town alongside the interstate. WY 59 runs south as the Douglas Highway toward Wright and the mines and north toward the Montana line, and Boxelder Road is one of the main east-west streets.
For a mobile mechanic, Gillette itself is easy to cross, and most neighborhoods have driveways and garages. The harder part is the roads out of town. WY 59 south toward Wright carries heavy mine traffic at shift changes, and the gravel and scoria roads to the oil and gas fields are long and rough. Many trucks come in with flat tires, broken suspension parts, cracked windshields and worn brakes. Winter storms close I-90 and the highways, and wind drifts snow across the open roads. Pronghorn and deer cross WY 59 and I-90 at dawn and dusk, exactly when shift traffic is heaviest.
The regional airport sits north of the city, and its lot is a short drive away. Gillette College, the county hospital and the CAM-PLEX event center bring steady traffic, and the mines and energy companies employ many shift workers who live in town and in the surrounding communities. Contract crews often stay in hotels and RV parks around the city, and their trucks see the same hard use as local rigs.