We had just tucked into our lunch at a rest stop at Deuba when we noticed a 10-wheeler truck pulling onto the side of the road.
Out hopped two men who headed straight for the seafood restaurant adjacent to the one we were in. One of the men was Yusuf Khan, 50 years old and a veteran trucker of 23 years.
Yusuf has been driving these big trailers and extra dimension trucks on Fiji roads for some time now and when we caught up with him he had just clocked another 400km to his driving mileage.
"I left Suva this morning at four o'clock to deliver a consignment down to Nadi and we were just on our way back," Yusuf says.
It's impressive considering it was just a few minutes after 1pm and he was just 45 minutes away from his Suva base.
Yusuf usually takes these long-distance trips twice a week and clocks out of work straight after returning his rig to the yard.
"I have driven just about every kind of vehicle and I am so used to driving long distances and working these hours," he says.
Even though he came from a cane farming background, Yusuf took to the roads in 1985 and hasn't looked back since. Yusuf started driving big trucks as a 27-year-old, working the off-roads of Vanua Levu in the logging areas of Macuata, Bua and Cakaudrove.
Being a trucker has its ups and downs and Yusuf says he sometimes works odd hours, taking delivery of big cargo, road hazards as well as spending time away from family.
"I moved across to Suva in 1999 after our cane farming lease expired and ever since then I first worked for Jim Enterprise as a truck driver and now I have been working six years with RC Manubhai," Yusuf says.
And just like all truckies, Yusuf is glad in having 26-year-old Ranjeev Raj Reddy as his lorry boy, who is his much needed help and companion on all trips.
Yusuf has spent the last three years with Ranjeev as his lorry boy and he is appreciative of the young man's help, especially whenever he faces tricky situations on their long-distance trips.
"We have been working together for quite a bit now and he comes in handy in helping me unload or load the cargo and rope it in securely or whenever we have a puncture on the road. He is there to fix it and along the way he is also learning to become a driver," Yusuf says. "Of course it does not mean that he helps me with the driving," says Yusuf laughingly.
Ranjeev himself really likes working wuith Yusuf and enjoys the day they have just had and gladly he got up early that morning to make the journey down to Nadi.
"Yeah, and I do like to become a driver one day and slowly I am learning my way through and I know how to drive but not the big trucks that I hope to drive one day," Ranjeev says.
The duo had a spring in their gait when they stood for their photo to be taken and as they tucked into a lunch of fish and chips, they are rewarding themselves for a job well done, especially after overcoming the long distance and the road hazards to live another day.