Teenage involement evolves into long-term future

PLAINVIEW — At 5:45 a.m., while most 23-year-olds are still asleep, Mia Dose is already stepping into her milk truck and firing up the engine. She lets it warm for 20 minutes before heading out to her first farm of the day. It is a routine she has repeated nearly every morning for more than a year, and one she said she never expected to enjoy as much as she does.

“Sixteen-year-old Mia would be blown away if she knew what I was doing right now,” Dose said.

Dose grew up in Plainview and has been tied to dairy work for most of her life. She started milking cows at 14 for a farm down the road and spent the rest of high school working in dairy barns in the area. She later earned associate degrees in dairy science and finance from Northeast Iowa Community College. She was active in FFA, served as Wabasha County Dairy Princess in 2021 and was a Princess Kay finalist the same year. Today, she serves as co-coordinator of the county dairy princess program and sits on the Wabasha County American Dairy Association board.

But hauling milk, driving a semi from farm to farm, pumping out tanks and delivering loads to the creamery was not something she imagined for herself until recently.

“I was working at the creamery I haul into now, and I missed that outdoor job and working with farmers more hand-in-hand,” she said.

Her stepdad, who owns Young Milk Transport LLC, offered her the chance to try driving.

“It was supposed to be, ‘Do you want to give it a try and see what you think?’ and I just never left,” Dose said.

To drive the truck, Dose needed a Class B license, but she went ahead and earned her Class A commercial driver’s license. She also obtained a tanker endorsement and completed the state sampler license process, which requires testing and periodic observation by a state inspector.

“They have to come out every two years and observe me again to make sure that I am following all the rules,” Dose said.

Her days vary depending on which of her five routes she is assigned. Some loads take less than an hour, which includes one stop, filling the truck and heading to Plainview Milk Products Cooperative. Others require multiple farm visits.

“You have to be flexible,” she said. “Someone might not be done on time, I get stuck behind a tractor or someone’s pounds went up, so it takes longer to pump out.”

This flexibility, she said, is one of the biggest challenges of the job. Milk hauling is a seven-day-a-week operation with no holidays or weekends off.

“You have to really love what you do to be able to do it full time,” she said. “You do miss stuff or you are late to things, and that can be a hard pill to swallow the first time that happens.”

Still, Dose said, the job is not hard, at least not in the way people expect. The physical work, the early mornings and the long hours on the road do not bother her. What matters most is the responsibility she carries.

“Milk haulers are in charge of this farmer’s livelihood,” she said. “They are measuring their milk pounds and making sure their farmers are being compensated for that.”

And for Dose, the farmers are the heart of the job.

“My favorite part is the farmers, 100%,” she said.

She sees many of them every time she picks up a load, and some make a point to come out and talk. She has known several since she was a teenager.

“It really just becomes like a little community,” she said. “Most of these farmers were invited to my high school graduation party.”

That sense of connection runs deep. This winter, one of the farms she hauled from shut down.

“I cried,” she said. “It is sad to see a farm go, especially when you get to know these families, and you see how much work and dedication they put into their farms.”

Dose is in a field traditionally dominated by older men. But she says the reception has been overwhelmingly positive.

“The guys I see at the creamery are super helpful,” she said. “Yeah, they poke at me, but I poke at them just as much.”

She recalled asking an older driver for help finding a fuel leak.

“He came over right away and helped me find it,” she said. “They have all been really good about helping me.”

She gets double takes on the road, too, sometimes from kids who light up when they see her behind the wheel. One farm family’s grandchildren run out to watch her pull in.

“Her granddaughter comes running up and goes, ‘Ma, there is a girl in the truck,’” Dose said.

As for the future, Dose said the question is daunting. She enjoys hauling milk and would like to do it long term. But the idea of eventually owning the business, with its seven-day schedule each week and steep financial investment, is intimidating, she said.

“It is scary to think about,” she said. “But I do not see myself doing anything else.”

For young people, especially young women who might consider the same path, she said her advice is simple.

“Just go for it,” she said. “There is nothing to be scared of. As long as you show up and put in the work, they will not have any issues with it.”

Dose said she appreciates the farmers she works with, the community she has built and the unexpected career she has grown to enjoy.

“I am very fortunate to do what I do,” she said. “I found a job that I love doing.”