E L Farmer & Co

General information

E. L. Farmer began in 1910 (some say 1903) in Vinton, La. By Ernest Lafayette Farmer. Using mule teams to haul logs, build roads, and do construction. Sometime prior to 1925 he moved to Breckenridge, TX and completed 2 railroads. In 1925 he sold his mule teams, and went into the Oilfield trucking business. He subsequently moved his headquarters to Odessa, TX in 1933.

In 1933 JC (Bill) Ferguson came to Odessa on a train, walked off the train, down the street applied for a Job at ELF. After working several months in McCamey, TX, he moved to Odessa to take over as Bookkeeper at a salary of $50.00 per month. Mr. Ferguson gradually bought stock in the company through a profit sharing program, and then later bought out the stock owned by the founders, and the company grew (specializing in Rig Moving) to over 600 trucks in 25 different locations. In the mid 1980’s due to downturn in the oilfield industry, Mr. Ferguson changed the company’s focus from rig moves to flatbed hauling and scaled back the operation to fit market needs. Mr. Ferguson ran the business until his death in 1997.

From a 12 truck operation in 1933, today ELF operates over 250 trucks and 4 Pipe Yards in 13 different locations, specializing in Oilfield trucking.