Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/204210
Beth Wolterman Since purchasing her '99 Pete, Stone has put 1.3 million miles on the rig. The independent livestock hauler won Overdrive's Most Beautiful contest. Hog heaven Livestock hauler tackles her tough niche with a big smile and little room for complaining. She also makes time to help stranded truckers. BY ELIZABETH MANNING M aggie Stone's average haul has 173 items of freight. Problem is, each unit has four legs and a mind of its own about when and where it wants to go. There are no lumpers or dockworkers to help Stone – only 5 feet 2 inches – get these 300-pound adult hogs on and off her trailer. "You don't even need to work out – you have your own aerobics class hauling pigs," said Stone, a 21-year vet- eran owner-operator who owns Missfit Trucking in Galva, Iowa. "Those little suckers are fast." On top of that, every day she faces the smell and mess of having dozens of adult swine crammed into one space. "I have had numerous men go, 'Holy cow, how do you do this with a smile?' " said Stone, 44. One such man is Greg Abbas, who, like Stone, drives for AgFeed. "She's always got the best attitude and a big old smile on her face," Abbas said. "You'd never know she is having a bad day because she's always trying to stay professional." For those qualities and more – service to truckers in crisis, strong performance in what was traditionally a man's job, and the warmth imparted by that winning smile – Stone was named the winner in Overdrive's Most Beautiful contest. Stone and finalists Tina Comer and Libby Clayton won expense-paid trips to the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas, where the winner was 38 | Overdrive | November 2013 Maggie_Stone.indd 38 10/29/13 11:31 PM