For the Long Haul: Portraits of Southeast Missouri Truckers

We go to the store and expect items to be on the shelves. When we think about it -- if we think about it -- the appearance of these objects seems to happen like magic.

In fact, it does not.

Rather, many men and women work long hours behind the scenes, crossing the country to deliver the items we depend upon being available. Some of them went to school to earn their commercial driver's license (CDL); others have trucking in their blood, the children and children's children of truck drivers.

Many of these drivers embody similar values: independence, being self-made, resilient adaptation to obstacles thrown in their way. The trucks they drive are highly personal possessions: they are their means of supporting themselves and their families as they traverse the country, setting out from one place to get to another, hauling commodities along the way. And other drivers know them.

"You can look at these trucks and tell that none of them's exactly alike. It's kind of like our ID tag," says John George, who owns John D. George Trucking Company in Ellington, Missouri, and has been a truck driver for 33 years. "My paint job, everybody knows me coming down the road because it's mine. You don't see any more that looks like this ... everybody puts their own touch on them."

With 91 trucking families in attendance, there were many different tractor trailer truck "ID tags" on display at the Laid Back on I-55 Truck Show that took place in Perryville, Missouri, August 21 and 22. This three-part series will introduce you to some of the people keeping our country running as truck drivers, transporting the items we use each day. In this first installment, we learn what's important to Terry and Kasey Aslinger from Patton, Missouri, and Eric Moseman from Sedgewickville, Missouri.

Eli Aslinger rubs away a smudge on the door while his older brother Terry Aslinger sits in the cab of his truck.

Terry and Kasey Aslinger and family

There is no mistaking one of Terry Aslinger's trucks as it drives down the road: each are unique masterpieces he has put much time and effort into customizing. From Patton, Missouri, where his grandpa's grandfather settled and part of the family farm is still in the family, Terry owns the trucking company Easy Living Express as well as the auto brokerage Aslinger Logistics and the custom truck and trailer dealership Terry's Truck and Trailer Sales.

Terry is in the business of hauling cars and specifically high-top vans and commercial vehicles throughout the Midwest, mainly out of St. Louis; Chicago; Kansas City, Missouri; and Nashville, Tennessee. One of his trucks, a '96 model with a closed-in frame he did a complete frame restoration to, tied for second in a national show series two years ago, and he and his family showed it from Florida to California, working it everywhere as they went. As a special feature, the truck has a u-shaped couch in the back behind the seats that folds down into a bed, room for his daughters to spend time in while they're taking breaks while traveling. Through this truck, Terry wants to showcase the kind of custom work he does.

Terry says he gets his ideas for customization from different things he sees, through bouncing ideas off of friends, and trial and error.

"We can go anywhere from extreme to mild on them," Terry says of his customization work. "Like this one here, the motor and everything is detailed out to match the truck. Inside, the hood's painted the same way the outside of it is. ... We build them to everybody's budget and their taste, depending on what they can afford and what they want to put into one."

Terry and his wife, Kasey Aslinger, both grew up in and around trucks. Terry's grandfather, whom Terry says he always looked up to, drove a truck, and Terry's father drives for him now. Kasey's grandfather, dad and uncle were also truck drivers. Terry's younger brother, Eli, washes the trucks.

Terry and Kacey have four daughters, Ruby, Emma, Jolie and Hollie; traveling to truck shows together is a family pastime. They spend most of their summers traveling the United States for truck shows and camping at their 130-acre farm in Texas. They especially enjoy participating in truck shows that raise money for children who have health needs.

"A lot of times, trucking and truck drivers get a bad reputation with the public, and we like to show the family aspect and family side of it," Terry says. "Trucking is how we grew up having food put on our families' tables, and that's how we put food on our family's table, and we want to be able to bring that to the public and show them what we're about."

Eric Moseman stands by the Peterbilt truck he drives for Kranawetter Transport.

Eric Moseman

You can find Eric Moseman driving down the road every week in an electric blue '06 Peterbilt 389. He drives for Kranawetter Transport in Patton, Missouri, the company that bought the truck a few months ago. Moseman, who grew up in Nebraska, has been a truck driver for approximately seven years and moved to Southeast Missouri this past year. He now lives in Sedgewickville, Missouri, where his wife grew up.

"You get compliments on it everyday. It's pretty neat," Moseman says of the truck he drives. "I mean, every day going down the road, someone's always looking at it or stopping and asking you questions about it. It's a good feeling."

What does he enjoy about driving truck?

"Well, some days, there's nothing," he says. "The whole COVID thing going on and everything, it's nice to know all the trucks are still going. We're still going, delivering stuff to people. When the whole toilet paper [shortage] was going on, that's still got to get to people. It's just a good feeling to know that you're delivering stuff for people."