Almost nobody thinks about the truck. You work out how much gravel you need, you call somewhere, you agree on a price, and then a very large vehicle arrives at your house and a great deal of heavy material ends up somewhere. Whether that somewhere is the right place is the part that decides how your weekend goes.
Bray has been answering that phone in Campbell County since 1945. Two brothers, a flatbed truck, and a slogan that was reportedly just “we haul anything.” Eighty years later the company is still family run and still doing essentially the same job, at a scale that now includes moving two million tons onto a single construction site.
This guide covers what they haul, the difference between the two kinds of truck they can send, and what to tell them when you book so the material ends up where you actually want it.
Eighty Years of Hauling in Campbell County
In 1945, brothers Maurice and Wilson Bray bought a flatbed truck and started hauling hay, concrete blocks, sand, gravel and limestone to builders and homeowners around Campbell County. They took whatever work they could find, finished their first year running four single-axle trucks, and at one point were even running a milk route.
Maurice built a reputation specifically for spreading stone, which is a strangely specific thing to be known for and tells you something about the trade. By their own account, people were still calling to request Pop by name for their stone jobs long after he had retired.
His sons came in over the following decades. Dallas and Dave joined in 1973 and bought a tri-axle dump truck. Roger joined in 1979, when the company built a facility along U.S. 27 in southern Campbell County. A fourth facility went up in 1998. Along the way Bray also ran excavation, snow removal, a body shop, a salvage yard and a used truck parts department, before those were spun off into separate companies.
At its largest the business had around 175 employees. Today Bray Topsoil & Gravel has over 60, focused on the one thing. Roger sold his stock to Brandon Bray, Maurice’s grandson, in 2015. Chris Cusick came in as general manager in 2017 and took over day to day operations when Dallas retired in 2021.
| At a Glance | Bray Topsoil & Gravel |
| Founded | 1945, by brothers Maurice and Wilson Bray, as Bray Trucking Inc. |
| What it is | A specialized aggregate hauler. They deliver and place bulk material rather than selling it over a counter. |
| Run by | Brandon Bray, grandson of founder Maurice Bray, with Chris Cusick running day to day operations since 2021 |
| Address | 7000 Thelma Lee Dr Ste 200, Alexandria, KY 41001 |
| Phone | (859) 635-5680 |
| Hours | Monday to Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to noon. Closed Sunday. |
| Serves | Residential and commercial customers across Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, with out of area work case by case |
| Website | braytopsoilandgravel.com |
Location, Directions and Access
Bray Topsoil & Gravel is at 7000 Thelma Lee Dr Ste 200, Alexandria, KY 41001, in northern Campbell County. Orders and quotes run through (859) 635-5680.
The yard is open Monday to Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to noon, and is closed on Sunday. Those early weekday hours are worth knowing, because scheduling a delivery is a morning conversation in this business.
Getting There, and Why You Probably Do Not Need To
This guide does not print a turn by turn route, for the same reason it would not print one to a warehouse. Thelma Lee Drive is a short commercial street in north Alexandria, and the connection between it and the main highway corridor could not be confirmed precisely enough to write directions a reader could follow without a wrong turn. Use the map below.
More to the point, most customers never go. This is a delivery business. You call, you describe the job, and the material comes to you. The address matters for the map and for knowing roughly how far the truck is travelling, not because you need to visit.
- Ordering happens by phone or through the quote form on their site.
- Their site carries a materials calculator, which is worth running before you call so the conversation starts with a number.
- They deliver across Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, and will consider work outside that area case by case.
The Truck Is the Decision
Here is the thing most homeowners do not know exists. Bray runs two kinds of delivery vehicle, and choosing between them at booking is the single highest leverage decision in the whole transaction.
A standard dump truck raises its bed and the load slides out in one place. That is efficient and it is what you want on an open driveway with a big volume and a tractor waiting. What you get is a pile, positioned wherever the truck could physically reach, and everything after that is your shovel.
A slinger is different. It carries a conveyor that throws material to where you point, which means the truck does not have to reach the target at all. It can place material in a spread layer rather than a heap, often close to finished grade, and it can do that over a fence, across a lawn it never touches, or into a back yard with no vehicle access.
Bray describes the slinger fleet as being for precision placement, and the reviews bear that out with a specificity you rarely see. One customer describes a driver placing high quality topsoil exactly where it was wanted without ever going onto a newly poured driveway and sidewalk, in wind, and then helping clean the street afterward. Another describes a driver navigating a hillside property and dropping loads in a specified spot. A third describes a driver laying gravel along the line where a pole barn drive was going, leaving separate piles positioned for a French drain that had not been dug yet, and adding a slight curve to the drive on request.
That last one is worth sitting with. The customer got a driveway shaped the way they wanted by a delivery driver, at delivery. That is not a delivery. That is the first hour of the build.
What They Haul
The product range is straightforward: topsoil and gravel, which in practice covers sand, limestone, and the various stone sizes a residential project needs. They serve homeowners and commercial customers alike, and they run standing delivery arrangements for production homebuilders in the region.
The scale of the commercial side is a useful signal for a homeowner even though it has nothing to do with a back yard. They delivered over two million tons to the Amazon site at CVG, at up to ten thousand tons a day with sequenced trucks. They removed two hundred thousand yards of sludge from Northern Kentucky Water District reservoirs. Eleven of their trucks are contracted to the State of Kentucky for snow removal.
None of that helps you spread mulch. What it tells you is that dispatch, sequencing and driver training are real functions here rather than one person with a phone, which is why the residential reviews keep naming individual drivers and dispatchers by name.
Ordering Bulk for a Patio, a Wall or a Drive
Bulk material is where a hardscape project quietly succeeds or fails, because most of what a patio is made of never gets seen. Getting the order right takes about fifteen minutes of thought and saves a second delivery fee.
- Work out the volume first. Run their materials calculator or one of the volume tools before you call, so you are discussing a number rather than a guess.
- Say what you are building. The right stone for a base is not the right stone for a drainage trench or a decorative bed, and the person on the phone can steer you if they know the job.
- Describe the access honestly. Gate width, overhead branches, slope, soft ground, and anything newly poured. This is what decides which truck comes.
- Say where you want it. Not near the driveway. A specific spot, and if you have a tractor, where the piles should sit so you can reach them.
On quantities, how a square footage turns into tons on a truck ticket is the conversion worth doing before you dial, and understanding what belongs underneath before anything goes on top is what tells you which material you are actually ordering.
If the project has not started yet, it helps to know what happens between an empty yard and a finished surface, because material that arrives three weeks early is just a pile in the way. And on this side of the river it is worth checking the standards that apply once you cross the river before anything is designed.
Platinum Deck and Patio builds paver patios, retaining walls and decks across the Cincinnati metro including the Northern Kentucky side, and on a job of any size the material order and the build schedule are the same conversation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do they deliver to homeowners or only to contractors?
Both. They run a residential service alongside the commercial side, and the reviews are heavily homeowner-driven.
What is a slinger truck?
A delivery truck with a conveyor that throws material to where it is directed, rather than dumping it in a pile. It can place material without the truck reaching the spot, which makes it the answer for back yards, tight access, slopes and anywhere with new concrete you do not want driven on.
Can I ask for the load to be put in a specific place?
Yes, and you should. Say it when you book rather than when the truck arrives, because the truck type is chosen at scheduling.
How far do they go?
They serve Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, and will look at work outside that area on a case by case basis.
What should I have ready when I call?
The area you are covering, the depth you want, what you are building, an honest description of the access, and the spot you want the material placed.
The Bottom Line
Bray Topsoil & Gravel is a business that has been doing one thing in one county for eighty years, and the thing it is quietly good at is not hauling. Anyone can haul. What shows up over and over in what customers say is placement: the load going exactly where it was wanted, by a driver who listened first.
For a homeowner, that reframes the order. You are not buying gravel. You are buying gravel that arrives in the right spot, at the right depth, without tracking across something you just paid to pour. That is worth describing carefully on the phone.
Measure the space, decide the depth, work out what you are building, then call (859) 635-5680 and tell them about your driveway before you tell them about your patio.
And if a driver offers an opinion about where the piles should go, take it. Somebody has been giving that advice at this company since 1945.