In prehistoric days, men left the comfort and safety of their cave to hunt for food and bring it back to their family. Today’s long-haul trucker is not much different – they leave the comfort of their homes and endure black ice, blustering winds, freezing rain and violent blizzards to support their family back home. They often truck all day and night, encountering mammoth-sized dangers all the way, to deliver their load intact and on time. It takes a lot of power to drag 86,000 pounds over the Continental Divide, but it takes a smooth operator with razor-sharp senses and a well-trained brain to keep those horses on the ground. Joey Sensing (27) of Ephrata, PA is a guy who, despite his young age, can strike that balance between having a deep need for rolling black coal and avoiding spin-outs and jackknifes. A second generation driver, Joey’s father taught him the ropes – in fact, the truck seen here is the one they rode in together back then. What was on Joey’s mind as he rolled into the truck stop that frigid minus 21-degree night my camera caught him creeping in? “I think way too many people pay way too much attention to the looks of their trucks, and then forget to just say hello to the guy next to them.” Simple wisdom from such a youngster – a nice clean rig is good, but being a good person is even better. Life is not about the THINGS you have, it’s about the SPIRIT that drives you. Like the cavemen of the past, truckers are driven by hunger – the hunger to take care of their family, earn the respect of their fellow drivers, and the simple satisfaction and pride of doing their job well… all traits that represent the true Spirit of the American Trucker.
