FIXTITLE Jerry Farmer.docx

FAMILY TIES

The Story

Of

Jerry Farmer

Family is a circle of love and strength. The dearest possession a person can have is family. Loved ones are special people that you would do anything to see smile, and the best part is that family loves you no matter what. Unconditionally and forever.

The needs of your family become your own. Jerry Farmer, father of four makes his everyday living about family. After all, he was raised in a family of trucking and is proud to keep their legacy alive. What started in the early 60’s by Jerry’s father has now expanded into a family business to include himself, his brothers and two of his own children. When I tried to inquire the secret to the Farmer family success, Jerry simply said, “We make it about us. Our family. We put each other first and help each other every chance possible. We stick together.”

At one point, Jerry and all three of his siblings were driving for his dad’s company, L & D Farmer Trucking. Then his sister went back to school and is now a Registered Nurse. With Jerry being the youngest of the boys, he studied his older brothers and admired his father and all that he did. “My dad was my biggest influence. I always wanted to be just like him.” It wasn’t only his father’s ability to drive trucks and the fact that he owned his own business that impressed him as a child, but many other things as well.

Before he was 10 years old, Jerry recalls going to the speedway to watch his dad and brothers race cars. He can remember the exact spot where he would sit in the audience with his family, imagining himself out there on the asphalt track. Going to the races on the weekends was one of their fun hobbies together as a group. Jerry eventually had his turn to race when he surprised his dad with a race car he purchased on his own. It was a red and black Chevy Impala, modeled after the late Earnhardt with the #87. The last time he raced was in 2008. He keeps his race car put up for when everyone wants to return to the tracks.

Jerry states that his goal as an owner operator has always been the same since he first began driving. To provide for his family. He continues, “I go to work every day for them. So that nobody has to do without. I try to give them as much as I can. Not just material things, but of myself as a father. We are extremely close because of that.”

For the last 41 years, Jerry’s parents have been together laying down the foundation for the Farmer family. Married for 35 of them years, the two have paved their way through trucking and opened many doors for the rest of the family to follow. Jerry’s father, after 40 years of driving still trucks today. While his mother manages the office and finances.

Jerry started helping his dad as soon as he was old enough to wash the trucks and service tires. “My dad would always show me what to do. We were all mechanically inclined. I try and teach that to my kids. To learn, you must watch and listen.”

Born and raised in Michigan, Jerry grew up in the city. He currently lives not too far from his childhood house. His father built a shop in 1988 big enough to accommodate everyone in the family business. All four drivers are within 15 minutes. With an 80 X 80 3 bay garage, including a bay with a grease pit, Jerry says his favorite thing about the shop is that they all get to meet there and hang out every day, before or after work.

Jerry was very active in sports early on. He played T-ball and was on a traveling soccer team until his teen years. Then he began spending all of his free time at the shop, being his dad’s extra hand. “I was pretty much raised in a truck. Whatever my dad was doing, I wanted to do it too. He taught me the meaning of hard work and putting family first.” Jerry admits that in the beginning, as a child the lights and big horn intrigued him, but it became more than that.

Between his hobbies such as playing ball or riding ATVs with friends, he still managed to get his share of duties done around the shop. He says, “I would help clean and sweep the floors, then go play. I’d work for a bit and play some more. That was my childhood. I never left sight of the shop though.” By the time Jerry was 12, he was able to back a trailer up so well that he rode an entire summer with a driver, helping him with pointers on how to make it easier. “It was fun! I got to drive and get paid some,” he said. At the age of 15, Jerry was earning his keep on the family payroll by doing any means of maintenance needed. At 16, he had mastered how to drive his dad’s Cabover trucks and would help out on various job sites. He shares one of his earliest memories from his childhood, leading up to him landing in the driver’s seat. “I had to be about 6 maybe… at the end of the day, I would jump in the truck with my dad and we would head out to the shop just down the road. He would let me sit in his lap and steer the truck. I remember thinking how cool it was.” From as far back as he could remember, driving trucks is what he was meant to do. Just like his father.

Trucking is not an easy living. Some days are much harder than others. But it’s a way of life that is rewarding. With the help of his father, Jerry became an owner operator in 2001 and he bought a 1996 Kenworth T800. He says, “Especially as an owner operator, trucking can get extremely hard. If we come across a problem or something is broken, we have to fix it ourselves. I just remind myself what my dad taught us… If we’re going to do something, do it right or it’s not worth doing at all.”

With about 2 million miles of experience on the road it never grows old for him. “Looking out of the windows; seeing different surroundings and getting to meet new people are a couple perks to the job,” he said. The good thing about it is at the end of his day, he always gets to return to the family shop.

In their type of transportation business, it tends to slow down during off-season. In which they take complete advantage of. “You only live once, so you have to enjoy it! We’ll all get together and have family days. Maybe go four-wheel riding at my brother’s place or catch a truck event of some kind. Holidays around my parents’ house are always fun.”

Jerry and his wife, Shannon met in 1998. In September, they will celebrate their 16th wedding anniversary. Before taking on the role of a full-time mother, she was an EMT at a local hospital. Their two oldest children Brittney 22, and Trevor 18 both drive for L & D Farmer Trucking. They also have Breanna who is 14, and L.J. their youngest is 11. Jerry says, “All I’ve ever done is drive. Trucking has been in my family for generations. We have to keep them big wheels rolling.”