10-4 Magazine March 2023

14 10-4 Magazine / March 2023 His truck recently got painted in the Maggini colors, along with a few other upgrades, as well. Since Dale Lysdahl was killed, Jimmy Ogawa has done all their flames and pinstripes and, once again, he did a stellar job on Mitchel’s ride. This company has always been a true family affair. Melvin (74) and Jessie (73) have been married for 55 years now, and this couple is still going strong. As stated before, Melvin runs the hay por tion of the company, and Jessie is the glue that holds everything together – she makes sure everyone has what they need. Mike runs the heavy haul side of Maggini & Sons Trucking, and his wife Jodi manages their company, Mike Maggini Hay Service, which has five trucks. Mike’s sister Annette is the secretary, and she takes care of everything. Her husband, Roger Ghidelli, has been a driver for the company since 2000, and the two got married in 2015. To this day, every one of these family members still live on the family proper ty in Riverdale or within a few miles of it. From “Wild Horse” to Sadie Mae, that’s five generations of Magginis! When talking to Mike for this ar ticle, he told me a funny story I had never heard. Mike vividly remembers when Erik from 10-4 Magazine first called him to tell him that we wanted to shoot his truck and put it on the cover back in 2003. Making that call is always fun because you know you are going to make someone happy. But Mike’s response was, “What’s it going to cost me?” Apparently, at that time, a lot of trucking books and magazines were charging people to be featured. Obviously, that is never how 10-4 Magazine has operated, and after setting Mike straight, he was on board to do it. As mentioned earlier, Melvin bought a 1962 Peterbilt that had been on our April 2002 cover. Immediately after buying the shor t-hood truck with a 60-inch Mercury sleeper, they replaced the sleeper with a smaller one, then proceeded to lengthen the truck’s narrow nose by sliding the cab back and extending the hood. Of course, it got the customary yellow and green paint, along with a host of other custom touches, and a cool new interior. We are proud to say this unique truck pulls our Truckin’ For Kids show trailer to various events throughout the year. Driven by Roger, Annette’s husband, we love hanging out with these two at the shows. A big “thank you” goes out to them and the entire Maggini family for their continuous help and suppor t. Going out in the trucks since he was born, trucking is all Mike’s son Mitchel ever wanted to do. They say trucking is in your blood, but I think Mitchel got it in his DNA. Getting his CDL at 18, he already had years of experience by then. After two years at college, he came home and star ted trucking. Mitchel just got married in August 2022 to Baylee, and a few months prior to that, their daughter Sadie Mae was born. And let me tell you, this girl has the entire Maggini clan wrapped around her tiny little finger! With Mitchel driving in the family business full-time, they decided to buy him a truck – a 2018 Peterbilt 367 set up for heavy hauling. This truck is powered by a 565-hp Cummins X15 hooked to an 18-speed, and has a 20,000-lb. front axle, 46,000-lb. rears, full lockers, and a doubled frame. Mitchel loves the heavy haul work, and usually pulls a 16-tire Murray heavy equipment trailer (Mike pulls one of these, too). For this latest photo shoot in 2023, we went to a tractor junk yard and found some cool spots to take our pictures – still at no charge, I might add. Thanks go out to the folks at MyersWard Tractor & Equipment Company in Riverdale for allowing us to take our photos on their proper ty. We even located some old green and yellow (and rusty) John Deere 9900 cotton picking machines on the 25-acre site, which sor t of matched the truck, to use as the background. Happy with the current size of the business, Mike is content not to grow (or shrink), with the exception of maybe adding a few more lowbeds. They are doing their best to stick to the old ways, but as dairies sell out and leave California, the hay business just gets more challenging every day, which is one of the reasons they ventured into the heavy haul work. But sink or swim, this family is in it for the long haul, and they are in it together. They all bleed Maggini yellow, they all watch out for one another, and we are proud to call them all friends. And 20 years (and four generations) later, they are still working hard, and playing even harder! n