Why we load Valley material for Valley jobs
Anchorage to Wasilla is about forty-three miles; to Palmer, about forty-two. Trucking gravel from an Anchorage pit to a Wasilla driveway means paying for ninety miles of round trip on top of the material, and the Valley has its own pits that are closer to your job than ours are. Palmer and Wasilla both have yards stocking driveway, septic and topsoil products, and the same pit run, 3-inch minus, 3/4 minus and D-1 crushed topping you would buy in town, sold by the yard or by the 10-yard load. So for Valley deliveries we load Valley material, you pay Valley trucking, and the Anchorage yard is where the truck sleeps, not where the rock comes from.
The Valley's ground
The Valley is where Southcentral is being built, and it is being built on everything from Matanuska River gravel around Palmer to glacial silt and peat bogs west of Wasilla and out the Knik-Goose Bay Road. That range is why "what is under the driveway" matters more out here than in the Bowl. Palmer-side lots often need only a top course; the KGB and Big Lake subdivisions can need a foot of pit run to get above the wet before anything else goes down. Dig a test hole before you order, or send us a photo of the ground and we will tell you what we think.
What we haul in the Valley
- Driveway and pad material for the new subdivisions off KGB Road, Trunk Road, Bogard and Palmer-Wasilla Highway.
- Topsoil for new lawns, which is most of the Valley's summer trucking.
- Spoils and stripped organics from lot clearing and foundations.
- Trucks with operators for Valley contractors who are short on hauling capacity in July.
- Snow hauling on larger commercial lots along the Parks Highway corridor; the disposal question is different out here and we talk it through before we commit.
Borough roads and spring restrictions
Most of the Bowl is Municipal road; much of the Valley is Borough road, and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough publishes its own seasonal weight restrictions on top of the state restrictions on the Glenn and the Parks. In breakup that can mean the state highway is open to a full legal load while the Borough road to your subdivision is restricted to a percentage of it. We check both before a spring delivery, and it is the reason a Valley D-1 order in April sometimes goes as two lighter loads. The breakup page explains the calendar.
Scheduling Valley work
We group Valley stops so one truck-day covers several deliveries between Wasilla and Palmer. If you can give a two- or three-day window instead of a fixed date you will usually get the cheaper slot. Contractor work in the Valley is booked by the day or the week rather than the hour, because a truck that has driven to Palmer should stay in Palmer until the job is done.
Where Valley coverage ends
Wasilla, Palmer, the Butte, Meadow Lakes and the Knik-Goose Bay corridor are regular. Big Lake, Houston and Sutton are case by case with Valley material. Willow, Talkeetna and beyond are better served by a pit and a hauler up there; we will say so rather than quote it.
Questions we get about this
Is delivery to Wasilla more expensive than Anchorage?
The trucking per load is similar when we load Valley-side, because the pit-to-door distance is similar. The difference is the minimum: a full load, not a partial one.
Do you deliver D-1 in the Valley?
Yes, Valley-crushed D-1 or equivalent base course from a Palmer or Wasilla pit. It meets the same spec as Anchorage D-1; the rock is a little different in colour.
Can you do snow hauling in Palmer?
For larger lots, yes, once we have agreed where the snow goes. Disposal options in the Valley are fewer than in the Bowl and that decides whether a haul pencils.
How much notice for a Valley delivery?
A few days in summer, and a date range helps. Same-week is often possible when we already have trucks in the Valley.