While visiting Gee Cee’s truck stop on the I-5 near Toledo, Washington State, Carl Kirkbeck caught up with career truck driver Roy Horst, who was waiting for details on a possible eastbound backload – a 40,000lb (18 tonnes) solid nugget of titanium. Home for Roy is some 2765 miles (4449km) to the east, on the outskirts of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.

Roy’s ride is an extremely tidy, bright yellow 2020 W900L Kenworth Studio- Sleeper, which he had custom-built to his specifications. It runs “a 565 Cummins at 1850”, with an 18-speed Roadranger and 3:25 rear end – a real interstate cruiser.

Life on the road for Roy started 54 years ago, in 1969. “I really enjoy the job, the challenge. I enjoy providing good service to good customers who appreciate what I do for them. It’s nice to get that recognition. In fact, the client I delivered to in Tacoma the other day was impressed with the set-up I have here and said they would be requesting that the shipper uses me to deliver the other machines they have on order as well. So, yes, it is rewarding to have that acknowledgement,” says Roy.

“Unfortunately, things have changed a bit. There is a new breed of truck driver now that, we will say, don’t understand the commitment needed. They want to be home every night. They want their weekends off. The desire to be an owner-operator seems to be getting less and less. Being a truck driver was a title and a position you held with pride. Unfortunately, that pride seems to be slowly eroding.

“A lot of them now want to park right up beside the front door of the truckstop, grab their fast food or energy drinks, and they are on their way again. I like to park out of the way, off to the side, away from all that, where it’s safe. I’m not afraid of walking some – it’s good exercise.”

Our vexing question for Roy was: seeing as we are in the US, who is it for you, red or blue? “Definitely blue.”