COVER FEATURE - APRIL 2004

JOE’S CRAPPY JOB PAYS
HAULING MANURE DOESN’T STINK AFTER ALL

By Daniel J. Linss - Editor

How many terms can you think of to call poop without being too offensive or crude? Let’s see, there are slang words like crap, dookie, turd, dump and dung. Then there are more technical terms like manure, fertilizer, excrement and droppings. Then there are more colorful phrases like number 2, cow pies, organic exhaust, poo-poo, 10-200 (CB slang) and caca. There are a few more you’re probably thinking about, but we won’t mention those here. These are common phrases and everyday terms in the life of a manure hauler like Joe Arias of Bloomington, CA. But, as it turns out for Joe, hauling this stuff doesn’t stink so bad after all.

Donald Joseph Arias (41), who goes by his middle name Joe, is a third generation fertilizer hauler and corral cleaner. Back in the 1940s, Joe’s grandfather began his career not with a truck, but with a horse and buggy. Later, Joe’s father joined the business with trucks, but they had no hydraulics, so they had to unload the trailers by hand with a pitchfork. Joe’s dad worked in and around Los Angeles until its fast-expanding suburbs forced the dairies to move to Chino in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1978, when Joe was 15, his family relocated to Ontario, CA. Today, once again, the dairies are being “forced out” to allow developers to build thousands of new homes in Chino. Most of the displaced dairy farmers are either “cashing out” or moving to areas like Bakersfield and Tulare in California, or other states like New Mexico, Idaho, Arizona and Washington. Joe is already looking for land in Tulare, realizing that he too, like his father, will have to follow the work to stay in business.

Growing up around trucks and cows, Joe started helping his dad at an early age. At seven years old, when most boys were out playing baseball or riding their bikes, Joe could be found scraping corrals or loading the trucks. At 16, Joe took and passed his driving test and acquired his Class A and Class C license. He immediately began driving one of his dad’s trucks part time, after school and on weekends. After graduating from Chaffey High School in Ontario, CA Joe went to work full time, driving for his dad at R.G. Arias Trucking. Out of six boys, Joe was the only one who could handle working with his father. As Joe’s dad got older, he began to get sick, so, little by little, Joe started taking things over. In 2002, Joe’s father, Robert George Arias, passed away, leaving Joe in charge. All of the operation is now ran under Joe’s company, D.J. Arias and Sons, except for one truck, his dad’s, which still bears the name R.G. Arias Trucking.

Today, Joe operates a fleet of eight trucks with a variety of different types of trailers and configurations - but all are based around manure. His company cleans out corrals with scrapers and loaders and hauls away the manure, taking it out to the fields in Hemet. In the old days, they used to clean out the dairies for free, and then sell the manure for profit. But now, with many farmers using liquid fertilizers and man-made chemicals, the market for manure has dropped so badly that Joe has to pay a small fee to dump his loads of cow crap. Obviously, he can’t clean the corrals for free anymore, so he now charges the dairyman a hefty fee for the cleaning. He has one transfer unit, five tractors that pull double side dumps, two truck and trailer side dump units and one truck pulling an end dump. The makes of the trucks in his fleet include Kenworth and Freightliner, but most of Joe’s trucks are Peterbilts - with the most impressive one being the cool 2-axle featured on our cover this month.

Joe purchased the 1987 Pete 359, equipped with a 400 Cummins and a 13-speed transmission, from Golden Bear Trucking, an outfit that hauls gasoline and is known for their clean rigs. Back then, the 3-axle tractor had Golden Bear’s brown and black paint scheme, which Joe did not change at first. After a few years of pulling a set of bottom dumps, Joe decided to cut off the rear axle, install a wet kit, and start using it to pull double side dumps, like most of his other trucks. Two years ago, Joe realized it was time to repaint, so he had the truck sprayed Pearl Blue. After that, he started adding some chrome - not much at first, but you know how these things go. One year ago he decided to take the truck to the next level and added multi-colored and marbled tribal flames. To achieve the marble look, painter Van Devort of Fontana, CA applied plastic wrap over the just-painted, still wet flames. After a few minutes, the plastic wrap was removed and the marble-look was left behind. A few coats of clear were added to protect the finished product. Joe added some more chrome and started gunning for the cover of 10-4.

Approaching us at a truck show in Fontana last year, Joe directed our attention to his newly-flamed truck and enquired about the possibility of putting it on the cover. We were impressed, but not sold. And we were honest with him. We said the truck was nice but needed more. A few months later we saw Joe again at a show in Palmdale, where he brought more of his improvements to our attention. We told him that he was getting closer, but still not there. A few months later, he called the office to tell us that he had done some dramatic work to the interior, and now felt like his truck was ready - and, after the things he told us that he had done, this time, we had to agree. And a month or two later, we found ourselves at Jack Alywen’s dairy in Chino taking pictures of Joe’s incredible rig.

Besides the awesome paint, the massive 8-inch straight pipes and all the custom stainless made by Fred Viramontes, what really stands out on this truck is the interior. Joe went all out and had Lil’ J’s in Riverside completely redo his interior with custom upholstery and state-of-the-art electronics. On the back of the sleeper, there is a tribal flame graphic which Lil’ J’s emulated inside the cab as often as possible. The graphic’s shape and colors were embossed or stitched into the door panels, headliner and on the seat. A custom bench seat was built to house and hide much of the electronics, including two, twelve-inch JL Audio subwoofers. Mounted on the front of the bench seat (behind your legs) are two huge chrome amplifiers. An American Pro Bass Machine, pumping out 2,000 watts, powers the subwoofers, and a 700 watt DHD Power Cruiser runs the mids and the highs through six other speakers. Tunes come via a Kenwood stereo and 10-disk CD changer. But that is not all of it. The truck also has a full Panasonic DVD system, complete with two seven-inch monitors mounted on the backside of the fold-down sun visors. The interior was done in colors to match the exterior’s paint scheme - namely purple, light blue and dark blue. As great as it looks outside, the inside is what really makes this truck a stand-out rig.

Of course, the stereo wasn’t Joe’s idea - it was his son’s. Having just celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary, Joe and his wife Pam have three boys. Donald (14) was a big help during the photo shoot and it is apparent that he loves trucks. He helps his dad out a lot and has visions of taking over the company and expanding. That would make him a fourth generation fertilizer hauler. The “booming” radio was Donald’s idea, but Joe likes it too (if for no other reason, it attracts a lot of attention at the truck shows). Brandon (12) came out and had some fun, but wasn’t as interested as his two other brothers. Cory (8) loves to help out too, and one day he will surely be in the driver’s seat of a big rig. Joe’s sister Lisa deserves a mention here too. Although we didn’t see her at the photo shoot, she bugged us for years to put her brother’s truck on the cover.

People think Joe is crazy for running this truck in dairies, but, as Joe put it, “What good is a truck if you can’t use it!” In the past, he has built a few neat trucks, including a black, lowered, 1952 GMC. Joe is looking forward to completing two projects that are currently in the works (a 1948 GMC and a 1952 GMC transfer). People keep telling him, “Toys are for kids,” but Joe doesn’t listen. And we’re glad he doesn’t!

As Joe looks to the future, he hopes to find someone who can help him run the business so he can do more driving. That is what he really loves to do. Maybe his boys will be able to help out more soon - after all, the name of the company is D.J. Arias and Sons. As the Chino Valley Dairy Preserve becomes nothing more than a memory over the next few years, Joe hopes to find land “up north” and get through this transitional time smoothly - while he is still pretty young and has the energy.

Many said he would never make it, but Joe is proving them all wrong. Although he is not exactly where he wants to be right now, Joe’s hard work and determination will surely get him there. With over ten trucks, several trailers, and this cool flagship Pete, his loads might stink but his business sure doesn’t. We’d like to thank Joe for all his efforts and pass along an apology to his wife. She had plenty of great ideas for spending some money (maybe an addition on the house, redo the kitchen, take a nice trip, etc.) but, thanks to 10-4 Magazine’s prodding, Joe got his truck’s interior done instead. Sorry Pam - please accept our apologies. It’s good to know that Joe has his priorities straight, huh Pam?!