MARION, Ill. (WSIL) -- Winston Johnson finally got a break after a weekend that saw him stranded in southern Illinois due to a fake registration.
Johnson rolled his suitcase into Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois and found that his reservation for a Hertz rental car would be delayed a day.
Before Hertz closed Monday, the company was able to provide Johnson a car ahead of his 10-hour drive to Minneapolis, Minnesota for a much-needed mental break.
"I'm a fighter but at the end of the day it's like I think I might be taking about a couple of years off," Johnson said. "Go home and [work] a regular little 9-to-5 or whatever the case may be."
Johnson had been stuck in southern Illinois since Saturday after a state trooper working at the northbound Interstate 57 weigh station south of Marion noticed the registration on Johnson's semi truck was fake.
The truck was towed away after the company failed to pay for the new registration provided by the Illinois Secretary of State on Monday morning.
On top of that, Johnson says his employer, Evergreen Freight, owes him $8,000-$9,000 for the first three weeks of work. Johnson is almost a month into his new job and has not collected a paycheck.
"We do the most work but at the end of the day we get the least. We sacrifice we put our life on the line," Johnson said. "We get the crumbs and it's not okay."
The Secretary of State's office is looking into the company. Evergreen has not responded to News 3's multiple requests for comment.
Johnson plans to take it easy when he gets back home to family and friends in the Twin Cities. Though discouraged, Johnson remains hopeful and driven to continue his dream riding on the road.
"It's definitely a passion. I'm a driver at heart. I love to drive."
