Heiman named 2012 Star in Agricultural Placement

Marshfield FFA member Andrew Heiman isn't exactly sure why he was selected to win the Star in Agricultural Placement award at the Wisconsin FFA Convention in Madison last week, but he was very pleased that he did.

He told the Wisconsin State Farmer after the awards program, "There were a lot of other good applicants. I feel honored to have been picked."

Heiman works at Nasonville Dairy/Heiman Trucking, fixing trucks and doing just about everything except body work. He started helping his dad and brother with little tasks when he was 12 years old and learned on the job.

He says, "My father and my two uncles own four businesses together and my father runs Heiman Trucking. I started out by washing the semis, trailers and bulk trucks, and eventually moved on to greasing them. I was really interested in the major maintenance that my oldest brother was doing."

He began helping his brother, learning along the way until now when he is able to do most of the maintenance himself.

He adds, "I can now mount and dismount tires, change brakes, fix air lines, do electrical work, change oil, fuel filters and air filters, change radiators and make clutch adjustments. I also do drive train maintenance, grease trucks, change and rebuild fifth wheel plates, change wheel seals and hubs, change hubs and wheel studs and rebuild DC motors and pumps for the back of the milk trucks."

He said knowing how do all of this motivates him to learn more about the internal engine work.

In his application he detailed how he records information about work that is done on each truck in the fleet and how he has worked his way into being able to do trouble shooting.

As soon as he received the award he left to go back home so he could report for work the next day. He said this summer his major project will be changing two refrigeration engines.

He plans to go to technical college to learn more about engine work. He wants to attend Mid-State Technical College to get a degree in diesel mechanics and then work for Heiman Trucking.

He also plans to get his CDL and would like to eventually own his own trucking business and shop.

He is the son of Kelvin and Marilyn Heiman.