Closed truck stop purchased in Claysville
The owner of an Avella trucking company has added a truck stop to his business fleet.
Frank Brownlee, head of Brownlee Trucking Inc., purchased the longtime oasis for truckers off the Claysville exit of Interstate 70. It was Veteran’s Truck Stop in its most recent incarnation, before shutting down last May in a bankruptcy liquidation.
The address is 24 Donegal Ave., which also is Route 231 South.
This property, however, is not in use. Barricades and “no trespassing” signs are up. And it is not certain whether the truck stop tradition will continue there.
“I’m trying to get a plan together,” Brownlee said Wednesday morning. “I do a lot in the oil and gas industry and think I’ll be involved in oil and gas.
“Something will happen this summer.”
Brownlee Land Ventures is the legal owner. Frank Brownlee said he purchased the property three months ago from Community Bank, which held the mortgage after S&V Properties, the previous owner, filed for bankruptcy. He declined to reveal a sales price.
Brownlee, 35-year owner of his freight-hauling business, said in 2012 he bought “an old truck stop” on the southbound side of I-70 at Dallas Pike. He said the site, no longer a truck stop, is used by Noble Energy for laydown yards, Anthony Crane (office, work area) and his trucking firm. “We keep a lot of our oversize loads there.”
Veteran’s Truck Stop shut down nine months ago along with a store and small pizza shop. The Huddle House restaurant, which leased space, remained open for a while before closing.
The truck stop existed for about a half-century under several names, including Petro and Union 76, and survived a serious fire more than a decade ago. For years, the stop may have been the largest employer in the immediate Claysville area.
For eastbound drivers entering Pennsylvania, it was the only one until reaching the Eighty Four exit.