Truck Driver Spotlight: Moon Jones
Sep 15, 2021
38 years is how long Morris “Moon” Jones, has been working for a Co-op. “It all started in May of 1983; I was 2 days out of college. I went to school to be an electrician. Graduated on Thursday, moved back to Ipswich on Friday. Happened to be at Farmers Equity Elevator on Saturday with my dad to pick up salt and mineral. Vince Jensen the manager at that time asked my dad if he could spare either myself or my brother. I happened to be the unlucky one there at the time. Vince said we need you for tendering and to show up Monday morning. So much for the tendering, we had a ‘79 and an ‘83 terragator. I got shoved in the ’79 terragator and went to applicating right away. Started spraying with the 103-spray coop. Did that for 35 years,” explains Moon. Then in 2017 Moon started driving trucks and has been trucking ever since. Originally when Vince had hired Moon on, he believed it would be short lived, however it turned into applicating, and it just kept going from there.
“My uncle gave me the nickname “Moon” 55 years ago. I don’t know if it was my face was round like the moon or what it was. I’ve always said the women used to moon me all the time, but they didn’t,” jokes Moon.
“I’ve known Moon along time, and boy are their stories I could tell,” jokes Mike Geditz. “When Moon first started, he was my flag person on the spray coop, and we had those 103 that never had a cab on them and a little short tank on them. We were spraying down for Floyd Hoffman. I turned the corner, and I couldn’t see him because you had to get up over the hill. Well, when I came up over the hill, Moon was doing headstands in the field,” states Geditz. “We had a lot of fun doing different things, and you had to pass the time somehow and break up the monotony,” explains Moon.
Katie Steen has been Moon’s dispatcher for the past 3 years. “Moon makes the most of his day. From the time he starts to the time he stops. He wants to fill his day and be as efficient as possible” states Katie. “Moon is a good teacher, and he takes pride in the job, the truck and the company as a whole.”
Moon treats his truck like it’s his personal vehicle. He takes pride in his truck and will even service it when it comes time to. When it comes to advise to pass on to other drivers Moon would say to have a routine pre-check and post-check by doing these you catch the obvious issues. As a driver you get to know the truck and you can tell/fell when something is different. However, the biggest advice Moon would advise new drivers is to drive defensively. Everyone now days is in a hurry and not always looking out for the truck. At the same time, you do have to also drive offensively. Be aware of your surrounds and seeing what’s coming from the side roads; if the car is actually going to come to a stop.
“You can always count on Moon; he might tell you can we do it tomorrow I’ve got a load of creep today. But you can always count on Moon,” Geditz explains.
“I don’t work to live, I live to work,” states Moon.
“My uncle gave me the nickname “Moon” 55 years ago. I don’t know if it was my face was round like the moon or what it was. I’ve always said the women used to moon me all the time, but they didn’t,” jokes Moon.
“I’ve known Moon along time, and boy are their stories I could tell,” jokes Mike Geditz. “When Moon first started, he was my flag person on the spray coop, and we had those 103 that never had a cab on them and a little short tank on them. We were spraying down for Floyd Hoffman. I turned the corner, and I couldn’t see him because you had to get up over the hill. Well, when I came up over the hill, Moon was doing headstands in the field,” states Geditz. “We had a lot of fun doing different things, and you had to pass the time somehow and break up the monotony,” explains Moon.
Katie Steen has been Moon’s dispatcher for the past 3 years. “Moon makes the most of his day. From the time he starts to the time he stops. He wants to fill his day and be as efficient as possible” states Katie. “Moon is a good teacher, and he takes pride in the job, the truck and the company as a whole.”
Moon treats his truck like it’s his personal vehicle. He takes pride in his truck and will even service it when it comes time to. When it comes to advise to pass on to other drivers Moon would say to have a routine pre-check and post-check by doing these you catch the obvious issues. As a driver you get to know the truck and you can tell/fell when something is different. However, the biggest advice Moon would advise new drivers is to drive defensively. Everyone now days is in a hurry and not always looking out for the truck. At the same time, you do have to also drive offensively. Be aware of your surrounds and seeing what’s coming from the side roads; if the car is actually going to come to a stop.
“You can always count on Moon; he might tell you can we do it tomorrow I’ve got a load of creep today. But you can always count on Moon,” Geditz explains.
“I don’t work to live, I live to work,” states Moon.