“WAYLON’S VOICE DRIVES ME THROUGH MILES I CAN’T COUNT.”

I pull out of the yard just as the orange light fades from the sky, and the hum of the engine feels like a heartbeat that keeps me company. I’m an OTR truck driver, and for hundreds of miles each night, it’s just me, my rig, and the open road. The stereo’s set to one song more than any other lately — Waylon — his voice cutting through the night, reminding me why I chose this life.

There’s a rhythm to it: the wheels turning, the headlights slicing through dark highways, the radio crackle when I cross states. And when Waylon kicks in, I feel something shift — the loneliness softens, the miles become part of a story. I glance in the side mirror and catch the faint reflection of cab lights shimmering on the asphalt behind me. In that moment, I’m both far away from home and exactly where I belong.

The world might sleep but I keep moving. I pass through little towns whose names I barely register, blink past the neon diner signs at 3 a.m., smell coffee through the crack of the window when I stop. The air is cool, the dashboard lights low, and I pull the wheel in a gentle curve — a small thing, but it feels like holding steady in a shifting world.

Some nights I’m tired down to my bones, the seat stiff, my back aching, but there’s a kind of satisfaction in the darkness — the kind you only understand if you’ve watched sunrise from a rest stop and heard the first birds before anyone else. Then Waylon’s voice comes on, and I lean back, close my eyes for a moment, and let the words carry me ahead.

What keeps you going when everything else stops? What song would you put on if you were behind my wheel now?

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