Our Trucks

We have lots of wonderful customers, many of whom have been with us for a long time. We thought some of you would be interested in the delivery trucks you have seen us driving over the years. The following stories have been collected and written by Tom Novak, based on conversations with Alfred Novak.

Oil Delivery Trucks

1952 Diamond REO Gold Comet

Lou Novak started the business after purchasing a red 1952 Diamond REO Gold Comet oil truck in 1961. The REO came from a fuel oil dealer named Don Orbovitz from Steubenville, Ohio. Carl Valero, a good friend and well-known mechanic in Slickville, helped Lou check out the truck before Lou bought it. Carl continued to help the Novak’s many times over the years. Alfred remembered being impressed when a young Dave Kitch, upon first seeing the truck, was able to cite the gear ratio and engine size without doing any research (Dave’s family also has a repair garage in Slickville). This truck was very slow to drive because of the gear ratio, and was replaced in 1964. The 1,800 gallon tank was removed for future use, and the cab and chassis were sold.

1957 Chevrolet

A 1957 Chevy was purchased in 1964 from a fuel oil dealer in Masontown, PA. The fuel oil dealer was located next to the Hatfield Power Plant. Alfred sanded the truck down and Carl Valero painted it red for us. At the time, we were a Mobil dealer and red was Mobil’s official color so they paid for the paint job. Carl painted the truck in the alleyway next to his garage in Slickville as the truck was too big to fit in Carl’s garage. This truck had hydraulic brakes which were a constant problem, so the truck was sold in 1967.

1967 Chevrolet

In late 1966 a new 1967 Chevy was purchased from Watson’s in Export. This truck was painted in Mobil’s new color, beige. You can see a picture of a young Tom Novak standing next to this truck on the homepage of the website. When Tom turned 13 he learned to drive on this truck as his dad, Albert, let him drive it home from the last stop each day. Joe Bowman installed the tank that had been removed from the REO. Joe was an excellent fabricator and welder, who lived just outside of Slickville and was a good friend who helped the Novak’s many times. This same REO tank was eventually moved to another new truck, and we still have the ‘67 cab and chassis stored in our garage. Bob Novak and Alfred had plans to someday turn it into a flatbed with a crane for installing oil tanks for customers, but Joe Bowman passed away before we could ask him to install the crane, and the truck has been sitting ever since. It is still in decent shape with only 57k miles.

1971 Chevrolet

Lou purchased another new Chevy from Watson’s along with a new 2,300 gallon tank, shortly before he died in 1971. With this purchase, we now had two trucks on the road. With Lou gone, deliveries were made nights and weekends. Albert typically drove the ‘67 and Frank drove the ‘71. Alfred was kept busy keeping everything working mechanically (e.g., servicing the trucks, replacing clutches, tires, camshafts, etc.). Martin Novak remembers the ‘71 having red seats, and it was again painted in Mobil beige. This truck had a serious brake problem that occurred a few times. Once, the brakes failed for Frank. He was pumping oil for a customer in Edmon when the truck started to roll backward, down a steep hill. A large tree saved the truck from rolling into the Kiskiminetas River and being totally destroyed. The back of the tank was smashed, and Joe Bowman repaired it by welding a new back from the factory onto the tank. The brake hose broke another time for Ed Novak when Ed was going down a customer’s driveway onto Route 380. The truck rolled over this time but, amazingly, the only damage was a broken mirror. We thought the truck was blowing the brake hose apart, but Alfred spoke to a state truck inspector at a brake testing site in Jennerstown and, after showing the inspector the broken hose, the inspector said that the hose was pulled apart, not blown. Apparently, Chevrolet had installed a hose that was too short. The brake hose would pull apart when you turned the truck a certain way on an incline. With this diagnosis and a longer hose, we had no further brake problems.

1977 Chevrolet

In 1977 the ‘67 Chevy was replaced when a new cab and chassis was purchased from Watsons, with a new 1,850 gallon tank made by Progress in Author, Illinois. Frank’s brother-in-law, Lou Klimchak, drove Alfred and Albert to Illinois to get the truck, with Albert and Alfred taking turns riding in the sleeper of Lou’s tractor-trailer. Alfred spoke of Albert’s eyes getting very big when Albert looked out from the sleeper to see Lou’s speedometer hitting 100 mph going down a hill. Once they arrived back in Slickville, they discovered that the truck’s new tank leaked and had to be re-welded before it could be used. Later, the front end was damaged pretty severely in Tunnelton, when a tire dropped off a soft shoulder and caused Frank to hit a tree. A whole new cab was installed by Pete Morcheid, who is a mechanic from Slickville, with a repair shop near Five Points. Rick Volker, a talented engine builder and cousin of Lou, Frank, Albert and Alfred, rebuilt the engine for us sometime later. The tank from this truck was eventually moved to another new truck, and we still have the cab and chassis from the ‘77 in a storage building in Slickville.

1982 Chevrolet

The next new Chevy came from Watson’s in 1982, and the 2,300 gallon tank from the ‘71 was moved to it.

1994 GMC

In 1994 a new GMC from Watson’s was next. The 1,850 gallon tank from the ’77 was moved to it. It did not get used a whole lot as Albert Novak died in 1995, after which Ed Novak started driving full time. With Ed full time we were back to only needing one primary truck. The rear end on this truck was too light and we broke several axels on it. Al Leighty, a truck mechanic from Mamont, replaced the rear end with a used heavy duty one off of a logging truck, and the truck has been fine ever since. We still use this as our backup truck, and it currently has 65k miles on it. A current picture of the truck can be found on our homepage, and you’ll occasionally see Tom driving it.

1998 GMC

In 1998 another new GMC was purchased, with the 2,300 gallon tank from the ‘71 moved to it. This was our last gas engine and last beige truck. Ed drove this truck for almost 18 years. When it was finally time to replace the truck, we sold it to a fuel dealer in West Virginia by the name of “Texas Tea Oil Company.” Texas Tea planned to park this truck at a customer site so the customer could use it to fill their machinery. Tom let John Novak drive the ‘98 the last mile to the dealer in Smithfield where the truck was taken to transfer the title to the new owner. A picture of John with this truck on the last day we had it can be seen on the homepage. While a student at WVU, John saw the truck one time outside of Morgantown with the new Texas Tea decals.

2017 Peterbilt

That takes us to our latest truck, a red 2017 diesel Peterbilt. After a five year search, we bought the cab and chassis from Hunter’s in Smithfield and a new tank from Metzlers in Duncansville. We had to switch from Chevy as they quit making big trucks. This truck is very efficient as it has a 2,800 gallon tank, an electronic meter and it pumps oil almost twice as fast as any of our previous trucks. Sadly, Ed passed away after only driving this truck for a year and a half. The Peterbilt is our primary truck, and we hope to have it for at least 20 more years!

Pickup Trucks

1957 Chevrolet Apache

We have always had a pickup truck for delivering new oil tanks to customers. On the homepage of this site, you can see a picture of Lou next to his red 1957 Chevy Apache. He purchased it used from Watson’s in 1964. The original owner was John Shawley, a longtime customer from Nowrytown. All of Lou’s nephews remember riding in the back of this truck at various times, often when driving down to Grandma’s house. The truck was sold to a person living on First Street, behind the school in Slickville. Tom remembers the truck sitting there when he was in grade school.

1972 Chevrolet

Next up was a new red 1972 Chevy from Watson’s. This pickup did not have power steering, and Tom remembers his mother, Donna, struggling to turn the steering wheel the few times she drove the truck. Bob Novak took possession of this truck in 1984 after we wore it out and were done with it. Bob replaced the engine and started fixing it up before trading it off.

1984 Chevrolet

In 1984 a new red Chevy was purchased from Watson’s. We still have the ‘84, but after three transmissions and two engines, it is parked for good. Rick Volker provided an engine that he had rebuilt that kept the truck going after the first engine failed. Frank and Alfred drove this pickup for years. We bought another pickup in 1997 as we thought the 1984 was on its last legs, but it actually stayed on the road and lasted until 2018.

1997 Ford

Our current pickup is not red and is not a Chevy. It is a maroon 1997 Ford, primarily driven by Alfred.

We hope you enjoyed reading about our small fleet of trucks!