12 10-4 Magazine / May 2025 a season for hauling liquid fertilizer (March through June), more maintenance and cleaning, and hauling all sorts of farm equipment, as well. With three full-time drivers all year, the company does not hire subhaulers during harvest – they completely use seasonal workers to fill all the spots during harvest and have a terrific crew of drivers that come back each year. Handling all facets of hauling for the local ranchers, the hopper trailers are used to haul the raw product right out of the orchards to be stockpiled at or near the processing plant. The nuts are literally “shaken” off the trees by shaker machines, and then the ground is “swept” and the fallen nuts are put into narrow piles down the center of each row in the orchard. Then, a harvesting machine runs down each row and picks up the nuts and then transports them to the trucks. After the initial processing, the nuts go in plastic bags and then into large wood bins, transported on flatbed trailers, to their final processing destination. Most of J. Rico Trucking’s trailers are sets of double hoppers, pulled by 2-axle tractors, along with some double flatbeds for hauling the wood boxes (like on the cover and centerfold). They also have several sets of double tankers (and one 40’ tanker) for hauling liquid fertilizer. Running into tight spaces and out into orchards, the doubles are much easier to pull. Of their ten trucks, one is an old Ford Sterling (Jisiy’s first truck), there are also (3) Freightliner Cascadias, (4) Freightliner Coronados, and (2) Peterbilts, a 389 and the 579 pictured here. All of the trucks are 2-axle units except the Peterbilt 579, which is mostly used to pull a 48’ Trail King lowbed trailer, hauling various farm equipment. For these pictures here, we hooked it to the double flats, loaded with almond boxes, because it looked cool, but this is not typically what this truck pulls (however, it can be used at any time during harvest when an extra truck is needed). The Peterbilt 579, along with one of the Freightliner Coronados (#26), was Ethan’s dad’s personal trucks, so nobody else has driven them much, except for Ethan and his dad. And every day Ethan gets in one of them to drive, the first thing he thinks about is his dad. All the trucks are a maroon color and white, but no two are exactly the same. The 2016 Peterbilt 579 (#33) is kind of special, so it got more done to it. Purchased used in 2020, the truck was all white with bright red fenders and bone stock. The Electric Red Pearl color, which got some extra metallic flake to make it pop, was sprayed by their friend who paints all the company trucks. The truck also got a new front bumper, Hogebuilt stainless half fenders on custom brackets made by Stuart at NorCal Customs, the front end was bagged, a new visor, additional cab lights, and extensive underglow lighting. The mirrors brackets came powder coated black, so Ethan grinded all the black off and then polished the arms, also adding chrome covers to the back of the mirrors. Powered by a stock 450-hp PACCAR engine, nothing has been done under the hood or inside the cab. This is an everyday work truck at its heart, and Ethan has neither the time nor money to spend going crazy fixing up one of the trucks. He does his best to keep it polished and clean, and the Rico fleet is known to be “a shiny fleet” while out on the road. Hooked to a set of double flatbeds, these trailers are painted to match and feature penny lights down each side, along with a few special added touches, like a stainless plate on the back and polished boxes underneath. Stuart at NorCal Customs and Ethan’s dad were pretty close, and most of the Rico Trucking trucks have had something done to them at Stuart’s shop nearby. Many of the Freightliners have custom rear light bars, painted deck plates, extra lights, painted visors, dual 6” stacks, Hogebuilt stainless fenders, painted cab and cowl panels, and more. The hoppers are all made by PT Welding out of Woodland, CA and feature matching painted frames (maroon) and bodies (white), matching maroon tarps, polished wheels and extra lights. Running California’s Central Valley, none of the Rico trucks go very far – the 579 Peterbilt probably runs the farthest, covering a 300-mile area south from Selma, CA north to Red Bluff, CA. But even at that, the 579 Peterbilt currently only has about 375,000 miles on it. The other Peterbilt, the 389, was recently purchased used as a 3-axle tractor and was then cut down to a 2-axle. This all white 2012 truck was completely re-powered with a compliant engine (with both DPF and DEF) and also got a custom rear light bar, extra lights, new pipes, a new bumper, a bowtie visor, and more. Maintaining the current size of the fleet, Ethan plans to stay the course. Comfortable with the size of the company for now, Ethan is accomplishing what his dad told him to do – “Life goes on, so don’t stop. Take care of the family, because it has to be done.” Ethan’s mom and older sister run the office, which is located in Corning, and both are doing pretty well, even though some days are tougher than others (for Ethan, too). It is especially hard when a memory pops up on social media or a photo on their phone is seen, reminding them that Jisiy is gone, and how much they miss him. In addition to all the work trucks mentioned, Rico has a few “fun” vehicles, too, including his
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