Columbus, Ohio, USA

Truck driver Pete Douglas, 68, poses for a portrait with his vehicle in front of his home in Charlton City, Massachusetts. Pete has been part of the truck driving industry since the 1980s.
The Midwestern countryside stretches before Pete has he begins to haul a load of steel coils from Twinsburg, Ohio to Rome, New York, in April 2016. As an owner-operator, Pete is responsible for his own vehicle and contracts with various companies. He primarily hauls steel for Mawson and Mawson, Inc. through the Midwest and Northeast. One of the things Pete enjoys about trucking is that he gets paid to travel and see different parts of the country, he said.
Pete Douglas, right, chats with fellow truck drive Dale Musgrave, left, outside of the Transport For Christ mobile chapel at the TA Travel Center in Lodi, Ohio, where both men were spending the weekend. Transport For Christ, whose mission is to lead the trucking community to Jesus Christ, has placed mobile chapels at truck stops around the country. Depending on his routes, Pete stops at the Lodi chapel relatively regularly.
Transport For Christ Chaplain Gary Nussbaum, far left, chats with truck driver Ben Blackburn as he and Pete Douglas, far right, hang out at the TFC mobile chapel at the 24-hour TA Travel Center in Lodi, Ohio, in October 2013. The chapel offers regular Bible study and worship services, as well as counseling from chaplains.
Pete pauses to pray during a Sunday worship service at the TFC mobile chapel in Lodi, Ohio, in April 2016. Although Pete was raised Episcopalian, he he's been to churches of many different denominations, and considers himself a born-again Christian, he said. He enjoys TFC's non-denominational approach to scripture.
Truckers who visit the Transport For Christ mobile chapel in Lodi, Ohio, can easily locate the on-duty chaplain.
Transport For Christ volunteer chaplain Eric Lange, right, chats with Pete, left, during an early breakfast at the Lodi TA Travel Center restaurant in October 2013. In addition to chatting with drivers in mobile chapels, TFC chaplains try to engage them inside truck stops, often inviting them to share meals.
The cross atop the TFC mobile chapel in Ontario, California, casts a shadow on a semi-tractor trailer as it leaves the TA Travel Center in December 2013. Transport For Christ has placed at least 28 mobile chapels at truck stop across the United States, giving truck drivers access to ministry and fellowship at many points during their routes. "It's kind of like McDonald's," said Chaplain Jason Nussbaum. "You go where the people are going to be."
Pete prepares his flatbed truck for the road after loading it with two large steel coils in Twinsburg, Ohio, in April 2016. Before he and a close friend became truck drivers together, Pete worked as a farmer, as well as in the steel erection business.
Pete fills his coffee thermos as he prepares to haul steel coils from Twinsburg, Ohio, to Rome, New York, in April 2016.
Coffee mug in hand, truck driver Pete Douglas begins hauling a set of steel coils from Twinsburg, Ohio to Rome, New York, an approximately 360-mile journey. Much of the steel that Pete hauls is used in the automotive and tool and die industries. However, steel hauling business has slowed down in recent years, he said, in part due to an influx of steel from overseas.
Bugs splatter the windshield of Pete's truck as the driver hauls steel coils from Twinsburg, Ohio to Rome, New York, in April 2016.
Pete's truck sits parked outside of his home in Charlton City, Massachusetts, in February 2016. Pete usually takes a break from driving every winter, when he spends time working at home. He is involved in multiple side businesses - including a gold business called Karatbars - which he plans to focus on more fully once he retires from driving.
Pete and his girlfriend, Joyce Panczyk, say grace over a dinner of homemade lasagna at their home in Charlton City, Massachusetts, in February 2016. Trucking can be extremely taxing on family relationships, Pete said, because of the long stretches of time drivers often spend away from home. "It's broken up a lot of families, believe me," he said.
Pete poses for a portrait with his 17-year-old toy poodle outside of his home in Charlton City, Massachusetts, in February 2016. Pete used to raise toy poodles.
Pete and Joyce watch news about the 2016 Republican Presidential Primaries in their living room in February 2016.
Pete chats with his neighbor, race car driver Richard DuBois, in Charlton City, Massachusetts, in February 2016.
Pete poses for a portrait in his dining room in Charlton City, Massachusetts, in February 2016. His shirt bears the name of the first trucking company he worked for, George Transfer. He went into the business with a friend in the 1980s, and eventually transitioned to working on his own.
Pete does the dishes in his kitchen in Charlton City, Massachusetts, in February 2016.
Pete and his girlfriend, Joyce, participate in a Sunday worship service led by chaplain Mark Garrett at the Transport For Christ mobile chapel in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, in February 2016. Because his routes don't go through Lodi, Ohio, as often anymore, he doesn't get to visit the Lodi chapel as frequently as he once did. The Shrewsbury chapel is about 20 minutes away from Pete's house, and has become his regular church while he is in the area, he said. It enables him to stay in touch with Transport For Christ.
The chapels also appear to offer a reprieve from the solitude of the road, as drivers often talk to chaplains and others in the chapel for hours on end. Here, Pete speaks with chaplain Mark Garrett after a worship service at the Transport For Christ mobile chapel in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, in February 2016.
Pete checks position of two steel coils in his truckbed while parked in the Angola Travel Plaza in Angola, New York, in April 2016. En route to Rome, New York, he wanted to make sure the coils, which weighed between 23,000 and 25,000 pounds each, had not come loose. Although there are parts of trucking that Pete still enjoys, he says that the industry has become increasingly difficult.
Among Pete's chief complaints about the trucking industry are rising expenses and lower pay for loads hauled. He blames part of this on the rise of smaller trucking companies that have cut freight pay rates. As an owner-operator, Pete is responsible for all of his own costs, including fuel expenses for his truck, which holds about 300 gallons of diesel fuel.
Pete pauses in his truck bed after loading steel coils at Samuel Steel Pickling Co. in Twinsburg, Ohio, in April 2016. Trucking can also take a heavy physical toll on drivers, who often sit for hours on end and have few healthy food options on the road.
The outsourcing of manufacturing jobs has put the steel industry in decline, Pete said, decreasing the number of loads he hauls and changing his routes. Like many Americans, he believes in Donald Trump's ability to revive the economy and bring jobs back to United States soil. Here, while waiting out rush hour traffic at a truck stop near Cleveland, Ohio, Pete watched a recorded Trump speech in the cab of his truck.
Pete takes a cigarette break at a rest stop in Angola, New York, in April 2016. Truckers used to be like a family, Pete said, and as another driver once told him, they were considered the "knights of the road." But the courtesy has declined, he said.
Transport For Christ mobile chapels often provide a space for drivers to decompress from the stresses and frustrations of the road. Political discussions are also somewhat common. Here, Pete, right, debates with fellow driver Dale Musgrave, left, inside the Transport For Christ mobile chapel at the TA travel center in Lodi, Ohio, where both men were spending the weekend in May 2016. Dale's wife, Linda Musgrave, sits beside him, while TFC chaplain Jason Nussbaum, far right, looks on.
Pete peruses the rows of trucks walks parked at the TA Travel Center in Lodi, Ohio, where he was spending the weekend in May 2016. With all of the negative changes he has experienced in the trucking industry, Pete is planning to retire soon, he said, and focus on his side businesses in Massachusetts.
Pete rests his hat and jacket on the steering weel of his truck while sitting in a parking lot in Blasdell, New York, en route back to Ohio in April 2016. Despite the numerous challenges of the industry, the American economy relies heavily on truck drivers. According to American Trucking Associations, trucks transport nearly 70 percent of all freight in the United States.
Pete arrives in Rome, New York, with the two steel coils he hauled from Twinsburg, Ohio, late the night of April 25, 2016.
Pete relaxes with a beer while waiting for a table at Herbie's, a restaurant in Worcester, Massachusetts, in February 2016.
Pete visits the Transport For Christ mobile chapel at the TA Travel Center in Lodi, Ohio, where he was spending the weekend in May 2016. Perhaps the most significant part about the chapels is the support they provide for drivers like Pete. "It's nice to be able to go in and talk with some of the chaplain counselors about these issues," he said. "They try to help you work through it."
A religious painting and stained glass lightbulb adorn the wall in the TFC mobile chapel in Ontario, California.
From right: Ben Blackburn, Pete Douglas, and another truck driver participate in a Wednesday evening Bible study at the Transport For Christ mobile chapel in Lodi, Ohio, In October 2013. "Where there is light, there cannot be darkness," said TFC Chaplain Jason Nussbaum, reflecting on the role of the mobile chapel.
The headlights from Pete's car illuminate the road outside of his home in Charlton City, Massachusetts, in February 2016.

A Less Lonely Road

According to American Trucking Association, nearly 70 percent of American freight is transported by truck. Semi-tractor trailers have become ubiquitous on U.S. highways, with the country’s economy relying heavily on the trucking industry.

This comes with a price for drivers. During the long stretches of time they spend on the road, they face family problems and poor health, among numerous other issues. As steel mills have struggled in recent years, truck drivers like Pete Douglas, who has hauled steel since the 1980s, have been particularly hard hit. Along with a decline in business, Pete says he faces rising expenses, lower pay, and increasing regulations.

Transport For Christ (TFC), an international trucker ministry, is a source of support for drivers like Pete. TFC has placed at least 28 mobile chapels at truck stops around the United States, including at the TA Travel Center in Lodi, Ohio, which Pete visits relatively regularly. The chapels provide Bible study, worship services, counseling from volunteer chaplains – and, perhaps most prominently, a space for drivers to decompress and seek support through the difficulties of their lives on the road. “It’s kind of like McDonald’s,” said TFC chaplain Jason Nussbaum. “You go where the people are going to be.”

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