Valley Bulk/Washington, PA

Who can tell me anything about them? I've been with my Florida based carrier for nearly 4 years now but things have changed and opportunities have presented themselves for my wife and I to relocate to PA, WOW!!!!! Talk about change.

Anyway from what I gather they're a small fleet pulling pneumatic tanks and dumps, also heavy haul. They're saftey scores are good from the info posted, I spoke with a guy this morning and he was friendly as could be and said there is plenty of work up there now with the oil boom, he also services the local concrete industry.

I will call and speak with him again on Thursday morning and see what more he can tell me. So simply put can anyone tell me anything about them or any other opportunities up that way, I don't want to be a slave to my job anymore and would like a carrier that has values based on family time, Valley Bulk could be the fit.

 

I appreciate the advice, to the guy that says PA is no good, I understand the weather and what not but Florida's economy is absolutely horrible right now and the pay being offered for drivers up that way as opposed to pay down here is night and day. It's the norm for class A jobs down here to offer 10 dollars an hour, that's a statewide epidemic. And facts are facts, my wife and I have a really good opportunity to essentially start over again and I'm just looking for info on the company. To the poster from "washington" thank you for all the advice, I'm supposed to speak with John Washabaugh on Thursday regarding employment with Valley, at this point it's a start in the right direction. Keep the info coming, it's much appreciated.

 

Well I'll go ahead and put it out there, Valley is where I ended up in PA. So far so good, the first few weeks were quite a test and we had to come to an understanding about how hard I wanted to work but since then things have evened out pretty well.

This area of PA is booming and this company essentially got out of the sand hauling and went back to service the customers in the concrete ready mix business and the coal mines in the area. I have learned more in a month driving for these guys then I learned in the 8 years of driving in Florida. My wife and I don't plan on staying after her schooling but I'm trying to make the best of it while I'm here, and John the owner of the company understands that and is still more than willing to teach me everything he knows about the business up here and how to be a successful driver.

If you happen to live in this area and are looking for a place to call home this could be it for you, if I liked PA I probably wouldn't go anywhere, it's just not what I'm used to. The pay is very good, I grossed $1,050 my first week here and keep a pretty good average. I don't work nearly as hard as some of these guys do, we've got guys grossing more than that on a weekly basis but they work for it. So far I've been home every night and do a lot of loads of rock dust for the coal mines around here. They say winter time will slow down quite a bit but that's fine with me, I don't need to get rich while I'm here I just want to learn and be safe.

As far as trucking goes this is probably one of the best jobs I've had, we're paid very fairly and treated with the upmost respect. I'm at 23% to start and any time after an hour pays $15.00 dollars an hour, try to find that in Florida. I probably won't post much about my experiences because I essentially know it's not a long term deal, but if anyone has any questions I'll do my best to answer them. For anyone thinking of moving to this area from out of state for the work, just be forwarned these are the scariest roads I've ever driven in my life, no warning can give you the full picture of what it's really like driving in western PA.

 

Here's my ride incase anyone wanted to see it. It's the oldest of the fleet, 05' 9900I Eagle with 501,000. Cat475 with an Eaton Fuller 13 speed, it's not as new as I'm used to but it's very well maintained, the PA winters have been hard on it though they've tried countless number of times to repaint it but it has a case of what they call "the cancer" that isn't allowing the paint to take very well.

As old as she is, I don't know if I want out of it. The ol' girl runs and shifts pretty #### good, how does it do on the hills you ask? Thank god for the 13 gears because i'm constantly searching for more to get me to the top.