Bob Panella has been running the family trucking business for almost 50 years. Panella Trucking of Stockton, California is one of the largest agricultural hauling outfits in the state, and when your
operation is as large as theirs, you have to be a bit fanatical to keep tabs on your equipment. Panella trucking currently has 300 power units and 900 sets of trailers, but they weren’t always that big.
Panella Trucking was started in 1934 by Bob’s dad Ralph who partnered with his cousin and bought a truck. Talk about meager beginnings - Ralph only owned half a truck. Later, he bought out his cousin and continued to build the business. Securing a job hauling sugar beets for Spreckel’s was the company’s first real contract - and the one that put Panella on the map. Later, they began hauling other ag items to local processing plants. But Ralph was always more into farming than trucking, so the business only grew so much.
As time passed, Ralph began to let his son take over the trucking operations. Bob, whose love was for trucks and trucking, took Panella Trucking to the next level. Today, their operation is huge. Their 85-acre yard has its own fueling station with 60,000 gallons of
diesel, wash bays, a paint and repair shop, manufacturing facilities and a staff of some 50 full-time employees (year-round). But when the picking season comes in the spring, their 50-person operation becomes a 500-person operation overnight. They haul 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for 7 months straight.
Panella’s main commodities are garlic and onions (from May to November), tomatoes (from July to October), and walnuts (from
September to November). Within this 7 month
period, they’ll haul over 50,000 loads, but as the season ends, so does the work. In
December, they cut back to a 10-driver crew and use the next five months to maintain the fleet and catch their breath.
A few years ago, Panella began building their own trailers when they realized that they could build them tougher, lighter and cheaper. In the last two years alone, they have built some 200 sets. In total, they have 400 sets of
tomato trailers, 250 sets of garlic/onion trailers and 250 sets of walnut trailers. Every one of them looks identical and is parked in perfectly straight rows, in numerical sequence, in their yard. Look one way and you’ll see hundreds of tomato tubs; look the other way and you’ll see the walnut trailers lined up; keep looking and you’ll see the tractors and the onion/garlic trailers all in a row. And we don’t mean just parked together, we mean lined up, inches apart, one after another, in perfect succession. Its really quite a sight to see. Keeping things neat and organized is a matter of practicality to Bob, but we just thought it was cool.
Dave Bond is the foreman who oversees the Panella fleet. Dave began working for Bob over 20 years ago, mowing his lawn and sweeping up around the shop. Today he is in charge of every piece of equipment in the yard, including the beautifully restored 1950 Mack LT on our cover this month.
Restored 15 years ago by Bruno Barro, one of Bob’s mechanics, the truck went through a complete frame-off restoration. Everything was redone. A Mack air-ride suspension was added, the transmission was updated to a Fuller 13-speed, and polished aluminum wheels were added. Other than that, everything
else is original, including the Cummins 300 and Roots blower. Bob always loved old Macks and when he saw this one he had to have it. Bruno did an incredible job pounding out the body and completely rebuilding the hood. After he finished the 3-year project he retired. Old “Truck 1” as it is called today, can be seen at truck shows from time to time and is even used to pull a local load every once in a while. This truck is just another testimony to the way Bob likes things - perfect!
Married for 34 years to his wife Dorothy, the couple have two sons and a daughter. Their oldest, Bob Jr., has made a name for himself racing Pro Stock Trucks in the NHRA. In fact, he’s a 3-time champion. Their daughter Nikki works in the office and their youngest son, Ralph (named after his grandpa), does public relations and marketing. Bob Jr. recently gave Bob and Dorothy their first grandchild.
In addition to the trucking business, they still have several hundred acres of orchards and a significant farming operation, so there’s plenty to do in the off-season. Now if he could just get those darn kids to help out. Running a successful company takes perseverance and elbow grease. Bob Panella knows that - he’s been doing it for years - nearly perfectly.
