10-4 Magazine March 2023

A lot can happen in 20 years – especially in the trucking business. In the past, people have suggested we do “where are they now” stories about former feature trucks, but we have been hesitant to do them because people retire or pass away, trucks get sold, wrecked, stolen, or parked in the weeds, and companies go out of business. Thankfully, none of this is true for Mike Maggini (45) and his entire family at Maggini & Son Trucking in Riverdale, CA. Mike’s little 2-axle hay hauler seen here was featured exactly 20 years ago this month on our March 2003 cover, and we thought this would be a great truck to feature again and bring everyone up to speed on what has been happening with it (and the family) over the past 20 years. It seems like just yesterday that me and my business par tner Erik “Big E” Sieben shot this truck for its first 10-4 Magazine cover. Heading nor th from SoCal in the early morning, I was driving our V10-powered Ford company van and we were running late, so I put the pedal to the metal. Not surprising, I got pulled over not far from Riverdale and fur ther delayed our arrival as we waited for the nice officer to write my ticket. Not a good star t to the day. But it got better from there. From that day on, we have had a great relationship with the Maggini family, and always look forward to spending time with this fun group of people who, as the title of their 2003 story stated, “Work Hard – Play Harder!” Another memory from that first shoot back in 2003 included doing “whatever it takes” (our motto here at 10-4 since the beginning) to get the shot – including putting ourselves in harm’s way. Wanting to get a really high shot, looking down on the bright yellow truck in a green alfalfa field, the Magginis picked up a picnic table with their hay squeeze and Erik and I got on it. From there, they proceeded to lift us up about as high as that squeeze could go. I’m not sure how high we were, but I do remember looking down at the tops of the power poles nearby. And trust me when I say, that wobbly picnic bench setup was not OSHA approved... but we got the shot! While shooting this truck in 2003 we knew it was special, as it was stretching the imagination of everyone who saw it and raising the bar. In 2003, it was still an everyday work truck, pulling doubles and hauling hay, and was one of the few iconic trucks setting the standard for “California Cool” back then. And, truth is, 20 years later, it is still a relevant ride. And even though not much has been done to it since 2008 when it was parked and retired from service, the things that were done to it back then were obviously way ahead of their time, because this truck can still hold its own with the best of them today. Besides the truck, the Maggini family and their trucking history, which now spans four generations, is a testimony in itself. It all star ted with Mike’s grandfather Harry Maggini, who was born and raised in Burrel, CA (about 10 miles nor thwest of Riverdale) in 1912. Harry had a reputation for being ornery and tough and was known as “Wild Horse Maggini” around town. He made his living driving heavy duty construction equipment like scrapers and bulldozers. And wouldn’t you know it, his son Melvin was pretty ornery too. In fact, at the age of 16, Melvin got kicked off his school’s football team for playing too rough – so he quit! His father told him either go back to school or go to work. Melvin chose work and has been working hard ever since. After quitting school, Melvin went to work in the local hay fields, hand loading 150-pound bales of hay onto bobtail trucks. It was hard work, but Melvin loved it. After a few years of side-loading, he decided to buy a truck and star t hauling hay. His first truck was a gas-powered 1948 Ford 10-wheeler. At the time, Melvin was working for someone else who, upon hearing of Melvin’s intentions to star t his own company, told everyone in town that he’d be broke in six months and would come crawling back. That lit a fire in Melvin’s belly, and you don’t “challenge” a Maggini. Melvin formed Maggini Hay Company in 1965 and went on to have terrific success, proving all the naysayers wrong. Melvin’s brother Felix was also involved in the family business. He had his own company called Felix Maggini Trucking, and had his own trucks, but they all worked together. After the now-famous “Maggini Yellow” (a patented color) was introduced to the fleet, Melvin and his brother were constantly competing with one another regarding the horsepower, number of lights, and amount of chrome on their trucks. This friendly back and for th battle caused them to have one of the coolest fleets on the west 10-4 Magazine / March 2023 11 coast. Harry Maggini, in his later years, worked for Melvin as a mechanic, until he passed away in 1993 at 80 years old. Unfor tunately, Felix died of pancreatic cancer in 2011. The next generation of the Maggini family entered the picture in the late 1960s and on into the 1970s. Melvin and his wife Jessie had three children – Annette (54), Barbara (53), and then Mike (45). They all joined the family business, and Annette and Mike are still actively involved (Barbara and her husband moved away and are no longer par t of the company). As the early 2000s rolled around, things were going great. The company had over 20 trucks and trailers, Mike’s truck (known as #13) was being featured on our cover, and Melvin bought another truck strictly to show and play with that just happened to be a past 10-4 cover truck from April 2002 (Rober t “Boomer” Baer’s olive green and black 1962 Peterbilt). Then, the economy tanked.