 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
The World of DFA Milk Haulers (continued)
Deal, who currently operates a single semi with a 6,500-gallon tanker, says the long hours also can be a challenge. He normally spends 11 hours a day behind the wheel, seven days a week, collecting milk from dairy farms between St. Joseph, Missouri and the Iowa border, and delivering it to a processing plant in Kansas City
“Mountainous terrain and winter weather are probably our biggest challenges,” says Ballard. “One of our routes goes over 8,000-foot-high Daniel’s Pass, and when there’s a heavy snow, it takes an experienced driver to know when and how to chain a supertanker to make it up those steep grades. We’re fortunate to have understanding producers who know what it takes to navigate those passes in the winter.”
“It’s not so much the snow as the ice storms that cause our biggest winter problem,” says Guenther. “If our semis start having problems on hilly terrain when the roads are icy, we can usually maintain our schedule by switching to our straight-axle trucks.
“Road and highway construction also can be a problem … last year several main arteries were rerouted through detours. And any time you’re in the transportation business, there are going to be mechanical breakdowns. Not long ago one of our newest trucks had a warrantee failure, and we spent an entire night making repairs to get it back on the road. Fortunately, we maintain extra trucks in our fleet, so if we do have a breakdown, we can replace it with one of the extra trucks.”
Remote areas with spotty or poor cell phone service can pose a challenge if a truck breaks down or cannot navigate a snowy mountain pass. “We solved that problem last year by installing Zonar GPS systems in all our trucks,” Ballard explains. “I can now locate any truck in our fleet from any computer, which means I can let a dairy or fluid milk plant know where a truck is at any time, and it helps me get assistance to a driver in an emergency.”
Friendships forged on the farm
In addition to helping bring dairy goodness from the farm to the dinner table, milk haulers and DFA members often become close friends, and attend social gatherings, graduations and family weddings together.
“My grandfather and my uncle milked in this area, so I grew up with some of my producers,” says Deal. “I played on the same football team in high school in Missouri with some of them, and I’ve watched their kids grow up. They’re like family to me.”
“Our milk is collected daily, so I probably see my driver more often than anyone except my wife, Jody,” says Kevin Waterman, a DFA member and fifth generation dairy producer from Forestville, New York.
“I, and my father before me, have been using Smith Family Milk Haulers since 1965. And we’ve become good friends with some of our drivers over the years. We’ve attended their kids’ graduations, and they’ve attended our kids’ graduations.”
Milking 70 cows, the Waterman Family Farm is located just 40 miles from Buffalo in western New York. It’s an area where the weather may bring rain, snow and sleet in the same day, and where haulers sometimes struggle to remain on schedule.
“Although our weather can be a big issue, I tell my drivers I don’t want them to kill themselves to get here,” says Waterman, who serves as a voting delegate for Region 9 in DFA’s Northeast Area. “Any time we get a new driver, I make sure I have their cell phone number. So if there is a problem, we can work it out.”
Hazardous weather conditions, muddy roads and driveways, and long hours in the dead of winter and heat of summer are all part of the job for America’s milk haulers. It’s a job that dairy farmers respect and appreciate.
“My driver is not only a friend, he’s the guy who helps deliver my milk check,” Waterman concludes. “It’s an important job, and I’m grateful for what he does for us.”