lol, thats a funny story, but im not surprised that employees are just drivers, not an enthusiast of the vehicle.
I wonder why they were unable to get in contact with the company? Walking 5 miles takes up a lot of the day when they were probably supposed to be somewhere (unless they didn't want to admit they ran it out of fuel). Something that old being used as an attention advertisement vehicle the owner should be on top of it, or at least have contingency plans if the vehicle breaks down (expected). Like heres the keys to the truck, and heres a cell phone for emergencies.
Locally there is a diary which has a whole fleet of Divco milk trucks trundling all over the state. I get a kick out of it all the time, they are in various states of condition, but its memorable to see them, definitely works.
Their website says the trucks are from the 60s to the 80s in vintage, (Divco closing in 86), so I wonder how reliable they are