DOCUMENTING THE EXTRAORDINARY

LENGTHS DRIVERS GO.

There are no small deliveries. Every delivery means everything to the people who rely on them, whether it’s groceries to stock the shelves for tomorrow’s shoppers or heavy equipment to fight wildfires in the Northwest. Below are the incredible stories of two drivers—Rachel Shackelford and Greg Rhyne. They’re just two of the millions of stories of what drivers do every day for people across the country.

Most people run from fire. Rachel Shackelford drives toward it—usually with 100,000 pounds in tow. Her home in northern California is a hotbed for wildfires during the dry summer months. To control them and protect the communities that are in their path, fire crews rely on heavy machinery to create firewalls and fuel breaks that will slow the spread. Rachel is one of the heavy-haul drivers who brings that machinery to the front lines.

“There’s no room for screw-ups. You have to be 1000% confident in what you’re driving and what you’re going through,” she said.

Gaining the confidence to haul anything, especially heavy machinery on treacherous roads and in extreme conditions, requires lots of training. Rachel’s been training for it her entire life. Growing up in Auburn, CA, she started driving tractors on the family farm when she was just five years old. She hauled horse trailers before she was legally old enough to drive. She rides dirt bikes recreationally and was a competitive endurance horseback rider. Navigating difficult terrain—whether on horseback or in the cab of a truck—is something Rachel was born to do.

Her introduction to heavy hauling came in 2019 when she retired from horse training and riding. She was looking for a new career and, more importantly, a new challenge. She found it in logging. She credits the demands that logging puts on drivers as one of the keys to her success in this business. Seventeen-hour workdays. Eighty-thousand pounds of gross weight. Navigating roads cut for snowmobiles—not a 40’ trailer stacked seven feet high with timber.

She has since expanded her hauling work to include construction equipment, snow-removal equipment during the winter and helping to fight fires in California. Like most drivers, she has her fair share of stories. Like the time she found herself sliding backwards down an icy road three times while training to be a logger. Or when she almost got stuck with her 12’-wide trailer trying to cross a 10’-wide bridge to get to a forest fire. But Rachel has always found herself to be most comfortable when she’s uncomfortable. Taking on challenges and solving problems in remote areas where turning around or calling for help simply isn’t an option.

“When you’re responding to something you commit to, there’s no backing out. It’s either you make it or you don’t,” she said.

No matter the haul, during winter snowstorms or summer wildfires, Rachel Shackelford has yet to back down.

In the Fall of 2024, Hurricane Helene ripped through the southeastern United States. No area was more devastated than western North Carolina, where flood waters leveled entire communities. The moment the water receded enough to access the area, thousands of people came to the aid of those who lost everything— from first responders and medical professionals to volunteers and truck drivers. One of them was a heavy-haul driver named Greg Rhyne.

“We all take for granted that we get to go home every day,” said Greg. “They don’t have that. It was washed away in a matter of minutes.”

At the time Helene hit, Greg was working for a towing company in suburban Charlotte. The next day, he was in his truck delivering aid to the area. For months, Greg made the six-hour round trip haul from his home to the areas around Asheville, delivering everything the community needed for every stage of recovery. Food and water in the days immediately after the storm. Heavy machinery to aid in the clean-up. Railroad ties to restore a critical 100-mile stretch of track. And building materials to help countless families rebuild.

One of those families was the Hilliard’s. Rick and Suzy Hilliard lost their home of more than 50 years during Helene, watching on a bank as the flood waters literally carried it away. They were determined to rebuild. And Greg was equally determined to bring them the lumber they needed to do so. While just a four-mile drive from the lumberyard to the Hillards’ property in Burnsville, NC, it required Greg to drive up a mountain, across washed out roads and around downed trees. But, as Greg tells it, it was worth it to see the look on Rick and Suzy’s faces when he pulled up with the lumber that would one day be their new home.

“To bring them hope was something I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” said Greg. “For me to just be a small part means a lot.”

While Hurricane Helene might have been most destructive storm Greg has responded to in his 15 years as a driver, it was hardly the first. The company he worked for regularly helped local law enforcement with critical hauls, so they are prepared to mobilize, delivering everything communities need during and after a storm. Sometimes it was hauling in food and aid immediately after a storm. Sometimes it was to bring heavy machinery in to clear roads and begin the long rebuilding process. Other times it was to haul generators in before a hurricane made landfall so hospitals and other critical services could continue serving people. During Hurricane Florence, he drove in the direction of the storm past endless lines of cars fleeing the North Carolina coast to deliver pumps the port needed to divert the rising waters. In these times of need, Greg and thousands of drivers like him respond.

“I’m so thankful for the truckers,” said Stephanie Johnson, Founder of the Rebuilding Hollers Foundation. “For what we’re doing here (in Western North Carolina), they’re everything. They’re bringing us everything we need.”

Greg recently left the towing company he worked for during the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Helene. He now hauls oversized and heavy machinery close to his home in the greater Charlotte area so he can spend more time with his wife and three kids. But if and when another storm hits, Greg will be ready to respond, just like he always has.