When Danielle Scalia graduated from Everett Area High School she had no idea that within three years she’d be working day in and day out with truckers. A 1998 graduate, Danielle worked first for Kentucky Fried Chicken and then for Fat Jimmy’s in Breezewood, before being offered a job as a partsman at the Gateway Travel TA Service Center. She started the job knowing little or nothing about trucks. “I didn’t need to know anything - I learned as I went from the people around me. Many of them have been here a long time and they’ve given me a lot of training.” As a partsman, Danielle takes care of customers - almost all of them over-the-road truckers who stop at Gateway for fuel, food, sleep - and sometimes, repairs. “I do the computerized work orders, locate parts, sell tires, take inventory - you name it, we do it to help them get back on the road.” Getting them on their way may entail driving to Altoona, Carlisle or Hagerstown to retrieve parts. “We do whatever we can to fix their problem - we know that their time is money.”

She likes her job - especially working with her colleagues and the customers. “It can sometimes be a little tough being a woman working in a man’s world, but most of the guys here treat me like a sister and the customers deal with me pretty well. In some cases, we think the truckers are better with me than they might be with a man.”

The down side can be the hours. “We’re open 24/7 - every day but Christmas - and we work 45, 60, maybe 65 hours a week depending on how business is going.” Another downside is the physical demands. “I just don’t have quite as much strength as some of the guys, and it’s hard work to lift some of these heavy truck tires or starters.”

Overall, she would recommend her job to others. “They take good care of us, it’s a chance to make decent money and I work with really nice people. You've got to want to learn and be willing to work hard, and if you do, it can be a good career."

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