My Trip To The Dairy

So @Mike2633 , what exactly is that dairy man hook thing you speak of? I can't picture what that is or what it would be used for.

 

I was a milk hauler for Dairyman in Maryland via a third party contractor with a small fleet of older trucks, Macks, Diamond Reo's etc (Oh the JOY!!! not being sarcastic... those old trucks were perfect for that work)

Go out in the morning before sunrise, ice the trailer double check everything grab sample cups and tools take off to first farm. Evaluate milk condition (Yes raw milk just out of the cows and to be assessed for weight, gallons and quality, Maryland issued me a specific license for that work which was to be done pretty strict because that was the money for the farm) install filter, run hose, mix milk, hook up and pump. Un do everything, write papers and go to the next farm.

After the route is finished, head to the dairy with whatever is in the trailer. THEY evaluate (In this case, Greenspring of Baltimore just a few blocks from Howard St, north ave and Jones Falls) and if it passes their test, they unload it with me working the hose connections, valves etc. And pull up to get it hot sanitized for the next day. Run home for the rest of the afternoon, usually done by 2. Come back out next morning before sunrise.

Regardless of weather. Regardless of your illness and in spite of the mud, ice and whatever else that truck must go it's appointed rounds every day except sunday. sometimes those old three part braking systems fail and a sticky brake pad glasses the drum and then catch fire which then must be put out with the extinguisher and a fire dept call out. When they are sure it's out, a maxi bolt (Not female pads you dirty ...) bolt comes out and backs that brake off the wheel. And on about the rest of the day you go.

Once or twice the truck breaks. Ive had bearings fail, collapse and then on the next right hand turn the entire dual wheel, tire and drive axle itself will come sliding out of the axle housing, drive gear box leaving you stranded until a tow man arrives with a relief tractor. You get into the new tractor, hook up and keep going on your route even though you just lost 3 hours.

Some people cannot handle it. The routine. Sprinkled by moments of terror, joy and sometimes a refusal of someone's load of milk due to parasites, flies and other contaminants. One gallon of bad milk from a badly run farm will absolutely ruin the other 4000 gallons of milk aboard.

To the day I die I will be able to detect sour milk. I also developed a theory that women's milk ducts exhibit sour milk when cancers or cysts form in that part of the anatomy. Because it's still bad milk that cannot be used by the baby.

The money? 1600 a month after taxes. And yes that was with 3 months experience. One of the very best jobs payroll wise I had back in the 80's green and knowing nothing.

Thank you Mack and Thank you Diamond Reo for never breaking. And curse you White for such crap. (If you ever drive a brigader general or a volvo later model day cab from the early 80's late 70's you will learn it is useful as a punishment box that will beat you black and blue.

 

Yeah and the floor of them dairy trailers are usually slicked up with leakers. So it slides real nice

 

I used to run a wholesale route had mostly schools. You ever seen 6 crates of school milk go flying down a flight of basement stairs? I was delivering one morning in the winter to an old school where the lunch room was in the basement, had snow on my boots well needless to say the dolly got away from me. It looked pretty awesome till it set in that i had to clean all that milk up. I dont miss them days.

 

The only time i ever felt appreciated was when i was making a delivery to a small country school, See the dairy had a problem getting chocolate milk out for almost two weeks so when i finally had some on my truck this little kid coming up from recess sees me and says "Hey you got any chocolate milk for us today" and i said "I sure do bud" as soon as i said that he did a couple of fist pumps and said "YES YES" That made me feel so good bout brought a tear to my eye.

 

I ran the night stocking crew at a supermarket over on the coast for a few years. They hired in this one kid who knew absolutely everything about everything.....
Anyway, we had a ramp that came down from the dock to the floor of the back room in the store. We had unloaded the cow, and I was showing him how to balance the stack of cases on the hand truck.
"Oh yeah, I know, I know..."
We let him clean up his own mess while the rest of us went to lunch...