Supply Chain Champions
For more than a half century, Farmers Oil Co. Inc. has put freight first and Foley is helping them do this.
Turn on the evening news, and you’re likely to hear about “labor shortages” and “supply chain disruptions.” These are just two of the many impacts that the global COVID-19 pandemic has had on everyday life. As Americans have endured empty store shelves and shipping delays, we’ve been reminded of a simple truth. Whether you’re talking tomatoes, televisions, or toilet paper, it takes a truck and a truck driver to deliver most goods to their final destination.“I guess you can say we’ve been blessed with plenty to do,” says Jeremey Graves, general manager for Farmers Oil Co. Inc. based in Anthony, Kansas. “Even with 117 trucks on the road, we’ve turned down more loads than we can haul at the moment.”
Since the late 1960s, Farmers Oil has delivered goods ranging from produce to petroleum and firecrackers to fertilizer. Today, the company’s fleet logs more than 12 million road miles annually, moving freight across the contiguous United States and even into Canada. Jeremey’s grandfather, Ray Graves, started the business with a single refrigerated truck.
“At the start, my granddad pulled reefers mainly between Kansas and Florida, hauling meat down and bringing fresh produce back,” says Jeremey, the third generation of the Graves family involved in the trucking company. “Then, he bought one fuel transport and a bobtail fuel delivery business, and it just started growing from there. My dad, Larry, drove for him and then eventually bought the company in 2000.”
With terminals in Afton, Oklahoma, and Anthony and Valley Center, Kansas, the trucking company is equipped to move all types of cargo. This includes feedstocks for producing gasoline and diesel, propane, anhydrous ammonia, agricultural chemicals, and fertilizers.
“We do some flatbed and Conestoga trailer work moving aircraft parts and steel, and we still do some reefer business for produce, too. We really try to stay as diversified as we can,” Jeremey explains. “All of our drivers are hazmat certified, and most of them have a TWIC (Transportation Worker Identification Credential) card and a U.S. passport.”Farmers Oil is truly a family business. Jeremey manages the day-to-day operations and oversees the Kansas terminals, while his dad, Larry, and sister, Julie Martin, take care of things in Oklahoma, including a repair shop for their propane trailers. Jeremey’s wife, Jessica, handles all the billing.
“We definitely have family involved in all aspects,” he adds. “My granddad still stops by the office most days and visits for a little while before going about his day.” With so many moving parts, the biggest challenge for the trucking company is keeping up with costs, Jeremey says.
“You’ve got to understand where your bottom line is and stay on top of being as efficient as possible,” he notes. “That’s where Foley Truck Service helps us. We rely heavily on them to keep our trucks on the road and running with the best fuel mileage that we can. There’s usually not a day that goes by that I don’t contact somebody at Foley and ask to get something worked on. There’s just not enough time in the day for our shops to take care of everything.”
Recently, Farmers Oil purchased two genuine Cat remanufactured diesel engines — a C15 and C16 — from Foley Truck Service. Jeremey says the power plants were put into the last two “glider kits” he could get his hands on.
“We have new trucks and trailers that have been on order for more than a year,” he says. “But you can’t get new equipment, so you’ve got to take care of your older equipment. We like the rebuilt engines for a couple reasons. They are generally more reliable than newer motors. And we like that Foley Truck Service will stand behind their products.
“It seems like this day and age, you’ll buy something new, and the warranty is practically void before you pull out of the driveway,” he continues, adding that Farmers Oil operates semis whose rebuilt engines have logged as many as 1.4 million miles. “Just the fact that Foley is willing to stand behind product is huge. There’s no haggling over whether it’s warranty or not, where you might have to arm wrestle with somebody else.”During the height of the pandemic in 2020, Farmers Oil was impacted like many other small family businesses. Because people traveled less and fuel consumption declined precipitously, the company had fewer loads of gasoline and diesel to deliver. However, they were able to pivot by moving other types of freight such as food commodities and household goods.
“We also hauled a lot of ventilators and oxygen machines for the hospitals,” Jeremey adds. “And hand sanitizer. We hauled a bunch of hand sanitizer, especially during the first part of the lockdown.”
Jeremey says he enjoys the day-to-day challenges of getting all loads to their final destinations. He says his team prides itself on knowing where the company’s trucks are and keeping customers notified.
“We depend on technology for that. It’s a close-knit industry. Once you do a good job for one customer, they’ll spread the word,” he says. “I once had a customer tell me that he had got my cell phone number on a napkin over supper one night. That’s just how it goes.”
While shipments of some products may trend toward routine, Jeremey says that occasionally they get to move freight that’s unique or take it someplace unique. Such was the case a couple of years ago when they delivered the signage for SoFi Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers, in Englewood, California.
“Our guys delivered most of the letters for the stadium name, so that was kind of a neat project,” he says. “They sent pictures of their trucks in the stadium. It was a fun job.” Though he spends most of his time in the office today managing the family business, Jeremey does still get some windshield time.
“We once put a truck on a ferry and ferried it into Canada,” he says. “That was just a little different for this south-central Kansas boy.”
To learn more about Farmers Oil Co., visit www.farmersoilcoinc.com or call 1-800-369-3835.