By David Harry

Staff Writer

Art Jones visits lots of homes each week, yet he still hasn’t met some of the people who live there. 

That can happen with a work day that starts at 4 a.m., which is when Jones begins his independently owned milk delivery route.

For the last 15 years, the South Portland resident has delivered Oakhurst milk and dairy products to homes and “mom and pop” stores along a route through Scarborough, South Portland, Portland, Westbrook and Windham.

“It’s a throwback from the old days, but it is still here,” said Jones, 41.

Jones estimated it has been about 40 years since Oakhurst sold its company delivery routes to independent contractors, and said some of the children of his established customers now buy from him, too.

Other customers value the convenience of at-home delivery that can mean they don’t need to rush to a store to buy milk or dairy goods when bad weather is coming, said Kathy Jones, who has seen her father and husband work the milk route.

Art Jones bought the route from his father-in-law, Pete Swasey, because he found selling shoes at the now-defunct Filene’s, was not very rewarding. He said he knows anonymity is part of his job.

“If I saw some of my customers in person, I wouldn’t know who they are,” he said.

The sky showed no hint of sunrise as Jones began his deliveries in Higgins Beach on Monday morning. Jones, who wakes up at 3:30 a.m. each morning, said he likes the early work because roads are empty and he never worries about a Casco Bay Bridge opening delaying his ride between South Portland and Portland.

“It’s just like the old days, give me a note,” said Jones as he left a half gallon of milk at a home off Black Point Road. Customers leave notes asking for what they need, Jones leaves bottles, butter and invoices in return. Some homes still have the vintage metal boxes used to store milk outside.

After his start each Monday in Higgins Beach Jones would make stops as far away as Windham before stopping by the Oakhurst Dairy plant on Forest Avenue to reload his inventory. The work day usually ends by 1:30 p.m., he said.

“I enjoy it immensely, it is so quiet and it is just you on the road,” he said.

Later in the morning, he said he does get to speak to his customers, many of whom live in senior housing developments. 

“Some of those people see me more than they see their relatives,” Jones said.

The work schedule also fits well into Jones’s life because he has been an assistant coach of the Cape Elizabeth High School football team since the program’s inception, he said.

Jones said getting to bed before 9:30 p.m. is difficult with an 8-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter. He said his father-in-law initially was skeptical of him taking over the route.

“He must have thought I had two heads,” Jones said.

Fifteen years later, Jones said he is on his second truck, a Chevy Silverado cab and chassis with a refrigerated unit attached to the frame, that he bought almost a decade ago.

Jones said he has seen urban and rural hazards along his route, from cobblestone streets in Portland rattling the truck frame to deer darting across Highland Avenue in South Portland. The most memorable, he said, was a 30-minute standoff with a moose early one summer morning on Broadturn Road in Scarborough.

“It just would not move,” he said. “It stood there in the road and stared me down.”

Jones said he buys milk and other products wholesale, and his prices are comparable to what smaller convenience stores may charge. 

Over the years, he tried his hand at selling other items, including snack foods, but the combination of driving to multiple distributors and paying the state “snack tax” repealed by the Legislature about a decade ago led him to concentrate on just selling dairy products.

Jones said he also pays 60 cents per gallon state tax, a levy he does not like because he said not enough of it gets to the dairy farmers it is intended to help.

Taxes aside, Jones said he is happy to carry on a tradition.

“A lot of people think it died in the mid-’70s, but I am still here,” Jones said. 

Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219