by Sherry Goodyear
SPRINGER — After the June 10th Springer Chamber of Commerce regular monthly meeting, they took time to honor a local business, and recognized 4T’s Transport Pilot Service for 12 years of being in business. The business, owned and operated by Lori (mom), Timm (son), and Apaches (daughter) Trujillo, provides piloting services for trucks hauling heavy loads. The business was started by Lori’s deceased husband Zeke Trujillo, who passed away a couple of years ago, leaving his family to carry on the business named after the four of them, hence 4T’s (four Trujillo’s) Transport Pilot Service. The family has done this type of work for eighteen years.
According to Apaches, their main job is to “Take the load wherever it needs to go.” Apaches says they, “Escort any type of heavy load including mobile homes which are our ‘bread and butter’ and portable buildings – pretty much anything big and heavy anywhere in the United States that it needs to go with the exception of New York and Hawaii.” Their trips last anywhere from a few hours to twenty days. They pilot “Wide Loads” all over Colfax County and the state of New Mexico, and their longest trip is a stint from Laredo, Texas to the Canadian border. They also deliver to shipyards including those in Galveston and Tacoma.
Timm says they love Montana, and one of his favorite places to deliver loads is to Harden, Montoya “because it’s a lot of fun.” Apaches says her favorite trip was one through Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri because they were routed through the mountains and the day was misty and cool. “There was a light rain falling, and I had the windows open, and I could hear the trucker shifting gears behind me as we came down those mountains. It was just cool.” She adds thoughtfully, “Many of the repeat truckers we pilot for become like family.”
The matriarch of the family, Lori, who was not present at the recognition ceremony does more of the piloting for the local area than she does long treks. Timm says protectively, “We like to keep her close to home.”
Despite the loss of Zeke Trujillo in October, 2013, the family has continued to provide a much needed and often overlooked service to the area and all of the United States.
