They put in long hours, almost working around the clock at times, trucking out during the night and moving grain around. Harvest is the most important time of the year for rural residents. The local grain elevator becomes Grand Central Station during harvest. People, trucks, and wheat constantly move in and out. Elevator offices bustle with people sampling and testing grain while long lines of trucks form outdoors.
Some drivers climb out of their trucks to get the latest news and catch a cool breeze.
First, the loaded truck drives onto a large platform scale outside the elevator office where a worker records its weight. A probe is plunged into the load to take a sample of grain. Next, the trucker drives to the elevator and dumps wheat through floor grates into a pit. If these factors are unacceptable, the elevator passes on a dock, or price cut, to the farmer. Finally, the truck returns to the platform to be weighed again.