Humble Beginnings Peterbilt 379

Not everyone is born with a silver spoon in their mouth – some come from humble beginnings. Doug Kratz (52), the owner of this beautiful

featured here, comes from the latter, and some of his earliest memories involve trucks. Doug’s father was a truck driver for 55 years, so trucking runs in their family blood. His earliest memories of trucking were riding along with his dad, including hauling pigs for V&J Derstine and beef for Moyer’s Packing Company (MOPAC). He recalls spending lots of time at the V&J shop, where his father’s friends also kept their trucks.

While in school, Doug became friends with Dwane Balmer, whose father owned and operated Penn Valley Gas (their Peterbilt 359 was featured in our February 2020 issue). From that point on, Doug would spend a good amount of his Saturdays at the Penn Valley Gas facility doing whatever he could. “In August of 1986, I got my license, which at the time was called a Class A License. I was then grandfathered into the CDL era,” Doug explained… read more >