10-4 Magazine / August 2026 63 again. Talking to these coal-hauling people, there is a unique unity and a strong determination that I can’t imagine you could do this job without. And this story, about a friendship that has lasted decades, is nothing short of amazing. The second family I met was Chris Helton and his son Landon, who also had “coal buckets” at the show, including their big pink “Piggy Bank” and yellow “Ol Yellar” trucks. Along with Mark’s “Ol Blue” rig, the three trucks were a picture-perfect display. They are all from Hurley, VA and enjoyed spending the weekend at the show together. Chris’ dad Larry started Topher Trucking which now has 18 trucks in their fleet. Larry, Chris and his brother Jonathan, along with his mom Patricia, Chris’ wife Carrie and Jonathan’s wife Deserre, run the family business. Chris said he really wants his son Landon to do something other than drive a truck, but the way I saw him back up and drive that big old truck around the parking lot in Bristol, I think his path has been set. In 2000, when Chris was only 21, he had a truck run away with him in it! Although he jumped as it went over, he still got pinned under it. The doctors told him he would never walk again, he would never be able to work again, and that he wouldn’t be able to have kids. After that “I’ll show you” switch was flipped, five months later and his first time back in a truck since the accident, he was riding with Mark when a spring broke, and they thought she was going to turn over. Mark said, “It’s going to be okay,” and it was. The truck didn’t turn over, and Chris went on to walk, he went back to work, and he now has four kids – Breanna, Connor, Kinley and Landon. If this isn’t the definition of determination, I don’t know what is. With two kids of his own, Chris’ brother Jonathan has a daughter named Phoenix (12) who picked the color for the “Piggy Bank” truck. After it was painted pink it was sitting in the shop, and Chris said, “It looks like a big old piggy bank” – and the name stuck. They are in the process of building a green truck for Jonathan’s son Griffin (5), and before I knew how old he was, I asked, “Does he drive?” Of course, they said, “No, not yet!” But I’m sure as soon as he’s big enough for his feet to reach the pedals, he will be driving, too. The “Piggy Bank” truck doesn’t work anymore, they just take her to the truck shows. Chris said that he’s had everyone from a two-month old baby to a 92-year-old woman up in the truck. He enjoys letting people get up in the truck to see what it’s really like. I asked if there was a cancer connection to the “Piggy Bank” truck, too, and sadly, there is. It is dedicated to his grandma Cora, who had breast and lung cancer, and Deseree’s mom Mary, who is a breast cancer survivor. The haul roads are changing all the time, making them even more dangerous than they already are. Sometimes they work out of one mine for several years. Right now, they go 45 minutes to an hour to the job site. They work all winter, and
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