COLBY ? Donna Schwindt doesn’t let her age slow her down or keep her from working.

Semiretired, Schwindt, 72, drives an 18-wheeler for A&H Farms of Colby, an 11-member partnership owned by the Frahm family.

Although Schwindt just finished her last days behind the wheel for wheat harvest, she plans to return to her driver’s seat for the fall corn harvest.

Schwindt started her driving career as a chauffeur for her two sons, when they were children and showing horses competitively.

“I learned to travel and learned the responsibility of hauling horses in the 1960s,” Schwindt said.

In 1973, Schwindt accompanied her first husband on cross-county trucking hauls, and that’s when she learned to drive the big rigs.

“The company that we hauled for liked husband-and-wife teams because they had less fights on the road and were less hard on the equipment,” she said.

Already having a Kansas chauffeur’s license, she decided get a California license and start cross-country hauls when she bought property in Washington.

Hauling mostly frozen fish and grains, Schwindt covered the country — California to Boston, New York to Texas and back to California.

But after returning to Kansas in 1988, she decided to limit her driving to local jobs.

Besides driving for the Frahm family, Schwindt drives for her brother-in-law, Randy Schwindt of Utica.

Donna Schwindt, 72, talks on a cell phone to her boss. Schwindt drives an 18-wheeler for A&H Farms of Colby. Although Schwindt just finished her last days behind the wheel for wheat harvest, she plans to return to the driver's seat for the fall corn harvest.

The work typically takes her to Kansas City but also has included hauls to Arizona and New Mexico. Schwindt feels at home in the seat of a truck.

“I started this line of work because my cousin farms for me, and he needed a truck driver. I started with two-axle farm trucks, the kiddie trucks, and graduated to the semis,” she said.

Confident behind the wheel, Schwindt said there’s not much about her job that’s a challenge.

“When I first started, the most challenging thing was looking ahead and seeing the impact that this truck has because this thing doesn’t stop on a dime.

“The guy who taught me said, ‘Nobody else is going to use that road until you are done with it,’ and I only drive the speed I’m comfortable with,” she said.

Schwindt said the best thing about her work is that she’s able to drive the tractor-trailer rigs.

“I can do it,” she said. “Really, the best part is that I can help these guys out when they need an extra hand. Not everybody can quit doing what they are and come out and help.”

Her boss, Ken Frahm, is pleased to have her on his crew.

“She’s just really dependable and friendly. She always has a smile on her face, and some would assume with a 72-year-old female, everybody would have to go behind and pick up after her, but that’s not the case. She pulls her own weight,” Frahm said.

The working arrangement is one that’s mutually agreeable.

“The Frahms are really good people, and if I need something, like pulling a tarp in the wind, they are always there to lend a hand. I’m really blessed with helping them out.

“After all, I’m only 60 with a few extra years,” she said.