What's it like being a driver for farms and ranches?

I can drive to up to 5 farms a day. I’m not employed by the farmer, but the company that is providing the animals to be raised at that farm. I’ve never showered so much in my life.

 

One really hot day I met a driver with a loaded cattle pot. New KW truck and one of the
coolant hoses that goes back to the sleeper sprung a leak. He lost a lot of coolant so the
truck shutdown on low coolant level.

He was scrambling......trying to figure out how to get going asap.....cattle were getting
hotter by the minute. Calling buddies.....who could help him get going.....he was at a small
fuel stop, no shop. One buddy had a visegrip so they clamped the hose off and than into the
store for coolant. Took quite a few jugs.....he never looked at the price.....didn't call the
company for money....just pulled out his wallet, grabbed the jugs, started pouring, got
rolling as quick as possible.

Point is HE did the work. He didn't wait for hours for road service to show up.....HE got
busy and got rolling. That is a normal day in the life of these guys.....get the job done. He
was filthy.....that hot coolant ran down his arms unto his shirt.....he must have been sticky
and coolant stinks. I would rather get covered in oil than coolant any day. Point is he didn't
stop for a shower.....the second that truck started he was headed down the road. Get the
cattle cooled down.

 

Sounds like any normal day for us redneck poor folks.

 

Thats how I was taught to run a truck... If it breaks down you fix it asap if you can.

The reefer company I drive for now LOVES the fact that I will fix my truck on the side of the road if I have to, and have the stuff to fix it. Brake chambers, alternators, hoses, belts, airlines, lights, electrical, ect., ect.... I've saved the company thousands in labor, road service, and tow bills

 

Try a 1955 dodge three on the tree manual. Flat with dually. On a gasoline V8.

Sit on the hayfield all day waiting until all bales are on the back.

Drive to barn, turn sharply dump bales. Drive back to field until more bales are on. Settle in you will be there about 15 to 20 hours. And do it again and again until the entire valley is stowed in the barn in round bales.

Not too exciting. Slow time. But truckers can wait. With the dance hall about three valleys over to let off the steam later that night. Essentially a waste of my CDL A and all the experience accumulated to that year. But frankly at my age a little slow time aint half bad. As long it don't rain.

And you did not sleep too deeply. Much of it is nap time until the bales get to your truck.

 

Same with me.....did mechanic work for a few years......drove a lot of years. I don't always
want to get dirty but I sure hate waiting for hours for service to show up......especially when
I realize the service guy is dumber than a box of rocks.

 

Delivered to a few farms.
Half the time the side roads were super dangerous to negotiate.
I'd prefer a regular customer where deliveries were previously delivered.

 

Ours was like that once.

Talking to him did no good.

You took him by the hand and led him to the offending busted part. And put a finger on it.

THAT, Busted. You fix yes?

Oh JA! me fix easy. You dumkoft driver...

SIGH....

 

Sounds about like a normal day hauling ag stuff around.

 

The type of trucks...………...when I was a kid my dad would take me to the local
livestock auction on Saturday afternoons. Back than the ranchers would show up with
regular pickup trucks that had stock racks. They would bring in one animal at a time.....
or they might buy just one. There were a lot of older small ranchers back that......kept
a couple head on a few acres out in the country......some actually lived in town.

I haven't seen pickup stock racks in years. Aren't very many small time ranchers left.....
most now are running 50 or more head on more acres. Now they buy one ton trucks and
are pulling stock trailers. Feed big bales with the pickup during the week.....hook on to the
stock trailer and go to the auction on the weekends.

Most of the larger ranches have gone to semi trucks. Haul hay, grain, cattle, etc. One older
truck with maybe 3 different older trailers. Even those guys are depending on "off-ranch"
income. For many the wife works in town at the bank, or the school, or for the county. She
brings home cash money for groceries and her job provides health insurance for the family.