From the time Bob Nickum was a little boy, he loved trucks.  In fact, he loved anything mechanical.  At the early age of 14 he got a job at Jay’s Shell Station on First and “A” Streets in downtown Dixon.  Pumping gas, airing tires, along with changing oil and filters was the simple beginning that would build through the decades.

 

Bob’s love of “metal on wheels” developed into a passion.  At age 15 Bob decided that he wanted to drive trucks.  Not just pickups or small delivery trucks, but those BIG trucks that used to drive through Dixon on Highway 113 past the service station where he worked.  In 1950 when Bob was age 15, the requirements to get a chauffeurs license and be able to drive a 10 wheeler or 18-wheeler truck was age 18. However, somehow, Bob managed to convince the DMV that he was old enough and they gave him a truck driver’s license.

 

His first job driving a truck was for Chastain Trucking Company of Sacramento.  He drove a 10 wheeler, two-axle dump truck, hauling gravel.  Each summer vacation during his high school and college years Bob drove for Chastain Trucking, delivering gravel throughout the Sacramento area.

 

After college Bob enlisted in the U.S. Army.  Upon successfully receiving an Honorable Discharge, Bob returned to his passion and drove a truck for Chastain Trucking Company again.   Two years later, he quit Chastain and bought his first truck; an International.  He started hauling gravel for Hess Mace Trucking.  In the summer he would drive in Northern California and in the winter he would go to Southern California and haul gravel for the construction of the massive freeway system.

 

After a few years with his first International truck, he sold it and bought his second truck; another International.  Still hauling gravel for Hess Mace Company, he got tired of being away from his wife and children every winter and decided to sell his truck and take a driving job with Cargill International in his hometown of Dixon.

 

 

Bob drove one of Cargill’s leased trucks for approximately three years.  It was at that time that Bob convinced Cargill that it would be advantageous for all parties to let Bob buy and service his own truck to haul Cargill’s alphalfa pellets and grain.  With this, he purchased his first Kenworth truck and named his company Valley Farm Transport.

 

Bob Nickum remained in the trucking industry for nearly 60 years. He started Valley Farm Transport in 1963 with one truck and was actively engaged in management of the company that has since grown to over 150 trucks. It  is with great sorrow that we report his passing in 2009. Bob’s passing has in no way hindered the continued operations of Valley Farm Transport. He was very careful and thorough in succession planning, so the baton has been passed to the next generation with no disruption. David Nickum is now President and CEO, but had been running the day-to-day operations of the company for several years. The responsibilities of all other senior management remain the same.

 

We miss Bob’s great sense of humor, his passion for trucking and his strength of character. We strive to carry on the company the way he would, with professionalism and integrity.

 

And, that’s how it all began.