Milk Hauling

In regards to surge, that is the movement of product inside the tank.... always try to load it as full as possible. Surge will be the worst when it's about 1/2 full. Two compartment trailers are better then single compartment trailers. If you have a two compartment trailer and only a 1/2 load, fill the front as much as possible and any remaining product in the back.... always load the front first. The last thing you want is an empty front compartment and full back compartment.

By the way I have over 1 full year in accident free, so perhaps my methods were different then what other people have done, but it worked. I have a clean mvr and nothing on the dac.

Nice to see a couple other Milk Haulers here. Thanks for the Advice.

I have 4 hours till my start time so Ima take a nap. Ill let you guys know what the program is like.

Have no fear Brett. I won't get in any hurry even though its per load pay. When I was running with the Sand and Gravel guys they really liked the idea of safety and introduced us to the Smith System. So Ill take those keys with me to this new career.

My Health is good. I was drinking protein drinks and eating a lot of animal protein. My fruits and vegetables were few and I really like Cantaloupe.

I didn't know I was one of those people that had a system that disliked potassium and animal protein.

Almost all the margarine I used and orange juice I was drinking and other things were fortified with calcium.

I can have food that naturally has calcium but I need to stay away from foods that are calcium fortifeid.

I can eat animals but I was “overloading” myself with the proteins from animals when I was drinking those protein drinks.

Thinking I was eating healthy...

Then Jogging at ever truck stop and using floor exercises and not drinking enough water which also dehydrated me a little.

So I weigh 200 Pounds I need to drink 100 ounces of water a day. Stay away from the protein drinks and foods fortified with calcium. I have been ok so far no more gigantic kidney stones.

I do have ONE gallstone that does not seem to cause a problem.

I had some biopsies during the colonoscopy that turned out to be “normal”

Are you going to be hauling locally or OTR? ALLOT but not all milk hauling is local. my company has farm pickup drivers AND transport drivers. myself, im a farm pickup driver. my day consists of picking up an empty, loading two farms. i then take that loaded trailer back to the yard, do a drop and hook grab another empty. take the empty to 2 or 3 farms depending upon the day and taking that back to the yard loaded...... sometimes my load has to go to o-at-ka (local plant). in that case i do the delivery. i leave the yard at 6:30AM and usually done by 4 pm and go home. NO ELD

1900 Start Time Head to a local farm. Temp, Measure, Sample, Load, Clean. Take that load to the local Plant. (Alta Dena...) We run for Land O Lakes and DFA.

Turn around and do it again. Turn around and do it again.

(3 Loads from the farm to the plant)

Grade A Raw Milk.

Tanks get cleaned 1 time every 24 Hours... or... The tank is good for 24 hours after its cleaned.

Are you going to be hauling locally or OTR? ALLOT but not all milk hauling is local. my company has farm pickup drivers AND transport drivers. myself, im a farm pickup driver. my day consists of picking up an empty, loading two farms. i then take that loaded trailer back to the yard, do a drop and hook grab another empty. take the empty to 2 or 3 farms depending upon the day and taking that back to the yard loaded...... sometimes my load has to go to o-at-ka (local plant). in that case i do the delivery. i leave the yard at 6:30AM and usually done by 4 pm and go home. NO ELD

I didn't know so cali had any dairies left. Most had relocated up to the central valley back in the 90's and then with the cow kill program alot went completly out. Brings back alot of memories. My ex father in law owned a small dairy in Hanford Ca and I got the pleasure of rebuilding it in 2009. Oh the fun, lol. You guys have your work cut out for you. My best friend drove a milk tanker for dairyman's out of Tulare for many years. With all the tests and everything it can get crazy. He used to complain about hot loads every now and then. Ya'll stay safe

The milk I haul is for upstate. I have special hatred for dfa. They are a special brand of corporate criminals. Before I got my cdl I actually worked for those criminals. Most of the farmers don't like dfa either.

I worked in a dfa plant, as a reciever. They fired me for vaping. Don't assume it was in the building because I was outside. When hired I was never informed of any such policy intentions. When I started the job I went outside no one cares, then in the span of 5 months they changed their idiot policy 3 times. I couldn't vape outdoors, couldn't vape in my car, was told to seek nicotine addiction treatment. I am a former smoker. They left me in the facility Every night by myself, which in itself is kind of a no no. I would go outside because no one was there, why should it matter.... who exactly was I affecting. Caught once, no written, no verbal, no suspension..... They terminated me the day I returned from vacation in the parking lot. They lied at said they wouldn't fight unemployment. They fought it and LOST the case. They treated me like I vandalized property or committed theft, and no such offense occured. Since I was on unemployment I was given a grant to obtain my class A. I paid $195 for my cdl out of pocket. Their ridiculous policy was never in writing nor did they have a disciplinary process, termination seemed to have been the first step, lol.

As a milk hauler it doesn't really matter because you aren't working for dfa..... I thought I would tell my story though. I really truly think the are the spawn of the devil.

My receiver licence is actually a part D, plant worker I'm still good for a while yet.

These people were so bad to work for the general manager told me he didn't like the sugar in my Lipton iced tea. He did this for times. I went to my supervisor and told him this must stop immediately. He apologized only because he probably realized I could use for harassment if it continued.

The plant was Craig station creamery in pavilion ny

Ad356, it really isn't helpful to anyone that you're airing your personal grievances about that place. It really isn't relevant to any of us. It sounds to me like you're a difficult person to get along with so the general manager probably didn't like you and didn't want you around. That isn't very interesting or newsworthy, and it certainly doesn't make them corporate criminals or "the spawn of the devil".

Try learning how to get along with people and you'll be amazed at how much easier your life will be.

If you want to help people with information about trucking, we're happy to have the help, but keep it on topic.

Wow ad, my buddy never had stories like that one. Sorry to hear they were so horrible. He worked for the plant before dfa bought it back in the 90's. Been to ling I can't remember the original name but it was a local coop creamery. Dfa was buying up alot of local's all over the country back then

Been a couple months now. All ima say is... Southern California drivers... stay away from milk if you want to follow the rules. Hahaha eye eye eye eye eye. Anyways I made a deal with my boss and he’s pretty nice about it. 3 loads a day is the ideal pay at $90 a load but it takes anywhere from 16-23 hours to get all three in. Most of the time is waiting at the plant...

So I’m running 2 loads a day because I gotta be home by 5 so my wife can leave for school and there is no one to take care of the kids (get them cleaned up and dressed and fed and one to school)

Plus 2 loads runs me at 10-12 hours on average...

I started at 1900 Right now I’m unloading it’s 0400 Still have about 15 minutes left here then 1.5 hours back to the yard and paperwork...

That’s a legal day...

But most Milk Haulers are running 3 loads and a lot of them are “domed out”.

We’re looking at loads about 88,000 gross and 18 hour days on average.

But ima stay because my boss and I have an agreement and at least I’m trying to stay within the limits.

If I can offer advice to future milk haulers... is an awesome experience that Inwould not trade for anything... so come on down. And remember it’s your license so keep it safe. One can get mad at you for trying to do the right thing. Just go about it the right way and you can make it. I’ll be here for a couple years. He pay is not at all amazing but the experience and hospitality makes up for it.

Just out of curiosity, how are you able to pull those long days and make it appear legal? Is it one of those things where you guys use the 150 air mile exception? That's only way I can see it happening as that's one of the very few ways your not on Elogs. This is another wonderful example of how local jobs hours typically are just as long, or longer than an OTR driver.