Orin Asmus, a resident of the US state of Iowa, is 93 years old and turns 94 this August. At an age when getting around unaided is an achievement for many, Asmus is still driving a huge freight truck.
Orin has worked for the McLaughlin Freight company for 11 years. He first took the wheel of a truck at just 19, and has spent the 70 years since largely in truck cabins. Now he is waiting to have his singular achievement recognised and his name written into the record books.
To be recognised as the world’s oldest truck driver, Orin has applied to Guinness World Records.
According to Guinness World Records, the current holder of the title is Doyle Archer of Kansas, who earned it in December 2025 at the age of 92.
Orin Asmus has now begun the formal process of surpassing Doyle Archer, with his current employer, McLaughlin Freight, submitting the veteran driver’s papers to Guinness.
Orin has driven more than five million miles — and he first took the wheel with no prior driving experience at all.
On that occasion, a sudden need saw him drive a truckload of cattle to Chicago. That was the beginning, and he never looked back. Over the past seven decades he has driven all manner of giant trucks, from Peterbilts to Macks. Every speck of dust in all 48 states except Alaska and Hawaii seems familiar to him.
Over his long life on the road, Orin has faced many experiences. In the 1990s his truck was caught up in the Los Angeles riots, when a bullet from a powerful rifle fired from the crowd punched through his truck’s exhaust pipe. He watched a terrifying explosion at a petrol station before his eyes. But no fear could keep him off the road.
The face of America’s roads has changed before Orin’s eyes. He says trucks once had no air-conditioning or place to sleep, whereas now there are automatic gears and cruise control — though traffic congestion has become dreadful.
And it is not just driving: for 20 years Orin has also served as a councillor on the Middletown City Council.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report