94-year-old trucker looking to claim Guinness Record of World’s Oldest Trucker for himself

A 94-year-old trucker is looking to claim the Guinness World Record title of World’s Oldest Trucker for himself after turning 94 years old this month. 

Orrin Asmus started trucking in west central Iowa at the age of 19 after his brother-in-law got sick and couldn’t haul a load of cattle ready for the meat packing district in Chicago. Asmus took the wheel with just a regular drivers license and some knowledge of farm tractors, but he made it. 

“[My father-in-law] said, ‘You can drive a tractor, how ’bout it?’” Asmus said to The Gazette. “I tried it — never drove a semi in my life.”

Since then, Asmus has been driving trucks on and off starting in the 50’s, and he says the open road looked and acted a lot different back then. The country’s network of major Interstates was not yet built, weigh stations didn’t exist, and ELDs certainly were not yet a thing. Many states did not require CDLs or even drivers licenses for cars. 

“The speed limit in Iowa (on highways) was ‘reasonable’ — that was the definition,” Asmus said. “In Illinois, it was 50 miles per hour.”

And of course Asmus says that the trucking brotherhood was much stronger back then, and drivers had much more skill, as so many old school drivers say these days. 

“Back in the early days of trucking, everybody helped each other. You don’t see that now,” he said. “If you get a flat tire, … there’s no volunteer that comes to help… There’s a big majority who think it’s all cruise control and Jake brake,” Asmus said. “When it rains, is icy or snowing, you (shouldn’t) use either one of them.”

Although Asmus spent some time on dairy farms, and managing warehouse and oilfield operations, he has always fallen back on trucking, and says he loves it even after all these years. 

Since about 2011, Asmus has been driving for McLaughlin Freight out of Mediapolis, Iowa. Asmus switched to part time about 4 years ago after entering his 90s, and now only drives as needed. 

“He’s an old school driver who never tells you ‘no.’ He just gets in and drives,” said company president and co-owner Dan McLaughlin. “He loves what he does and doesn’t complain. He gets the job done whenever it needs to be done.”

Asmus turned 94 on August 11th, but he and and his soon googled the record for oldest trucker a few months back and realized Asmus beats the current record holder, Doyle Archer of Kansas, who was certified at the age of 90 in December 2025. He is now 92-years-old. 

McLaughlin Freight says they sent Guinness World Records the application for Asmus back in March, but the application is still in review. Asmus says he’s happy with trucking with or without the bonus of a world record. 

“I love what I’m doing,” he said. “You’ve got to love your job to do it.”