Farm Pick Up Milk Hauling

Been transporting milk for 9 years since I retired from a major ltl freight company and there is no way that I would do farm routes. Overall, hauling milk is the cheapest trucking that I have ever done in my 53 years in the trucking business. To make a living in the milk business be prepare to work 7 days per week. You give up too much for pennies. Like being away from your family on Christmas? Like giving up every week-ends and I could go on and on. Like sitting at a dairy trying to unload for hours and hours. Doing farm routes in the winter, chain up and then take the chains off, next farm do the same. You a young man, run from this type of trucking.

 

Milk doesn't burn and the dog thinks you smell interesting

 

What is said in these two posts is spot on. My grandfather owned milk trucks for a long time before retiring and handing the business down to my uncle. He would later go on the sell the trucks and then work for the guy he sold to for a while, before going to Goldstar last year and hauls feed. He had 26 years of doing farm pick up. My father hired on with my grandfather and did farm pick up for 28 years before going to H.O. Bouchard last year, to haul chemicals. They were within 200 miles of Oakhurst Dairy, so HOS rules didn't apply, and you could work very long days, with little time off, no holidays, and little pay. They had one day off a week and one weekend off a month. We live in Maine so they had to go driving in all types of weather conditions. I can say that they don't miss it! I grew up around those trucks though, and rode with all three family members many many times and is probably why I became a truck driver my self.

 

The reality of it is that a gas tanker is far more stable than a milk tanker. You have 4 compartments to break the liquid surge, compared to that smoothbore tanker. Besides, you have almost no chance of a leak on a gas tanker unless you leave the internal valves open AND open the butterfly valves while not connected to your unloading tank... in a milk tanker, one loose nut on that pump and you'll loose the entire load of milk when the pump falls out, which also holds the entire load of milk in the tanker.

My theory is, if a mistake would get you killed in a gas tanker, it would also get you killed in a milk tanker. The product being a flammable liquid is arbitrary since it is contained.

 

Comparing hauling fuel and hauling milk, there is not really a comparison. It is like comparing apples and oranges. Before I started hauling milk, I hauled fuel for Wilco and this was one of the better jobs that I have had since my retirement. Hauling fuel, 4 days per week, I made around $1000, much less stress and frustration, I have gone thru the gate at a fuel facility and within 20 minutes come back out loaded. I hauled 75% of my loads to a truck stop and could actually drop my load of diesel fuel within 20 minutes and be on my way back to get another load. We ran 100% legal, HOS or weight wise, can't make that statement in the milk business.

The question might be asked of me, "why are you doing the milk"? Simple, going on 81 years old, ain't nobody going to touch me but some cheap ### milk company that can't find drivers. Oh, I am in excellent health, the doctor even wrote on my long form, "HEALTHY" on the bottom of the page and gave me a 2 year certification. But when you go in for a job, this doesn't mean "squat".

So, between milk or fuel, there is actually no argument, take the fuel.

 

Yeah, those loading racks are pretty amazing. I load out of Tesoro regularly, you get 3 arms flowing on a 4 arm trailer and you can figure those arms load at almost 700 gallons per minute, gate to gate is about 18 minutes. Gotta love those full loads of Diesel, no vapor hoses to mess with...

 

At the truck stops, the diesel hoses were always hooked up to the underground tanks, so you didn't have to drag out the hoses, just hook up to the hoses already there and start dropping.

 

Nice post: I sure hope guys working like this get more help shoulderin' the burdens so they are not overworked, and can still rake in decent compensation.

 

Around here, $100/load, never more than 150miles out, rinse and repeat till you feel like going home. Starts at 3-4am. Cash only.