Rodney Ray

Groesbeck, Texas

Rodney Ray moved in and out of the garage, pacing anxiously, weaving between 18-wheelers so tall they looked like they could reach the ceiling.

For the last week, his truck has been broken down off this corner of I-85 heading out of Greenville, S.C.

He stood close to the mechanics working on his truck's insides as if to make sure their greasy hands would move faster. He didn't walk upstairs to the truck driver's waiting area where he could sit on cracked vinyl and watch a fuzzy television.

He wanted to be near his truck. He wanted to head home.

Mr. Ray, from Groesbeck, Texas, has been driving for two years for Paschall Truck Lines, hauling everything from cereal to car batteries. You wouldn't know it to look at him today, sweaty and clothed in a torn T-shirt, but Mr. Paschall is a family man.

Soon he will head home to a wife and three kids, 13, 10 and 6, who he will see him for three days before leaving again for three weeks.

"They are used to it," he said casually.

Ms. Paschall loves driving, and in many ways this life was inevitable. Three of his uncles drove trucks. When he was younger, he remembers being regaled with stories of highway adventure.

Even now, stuck in a strange town, he isn't disillusioned about his choice.

"I love it," he said. "Paid vacation that's all it is. You can see the country for free."

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