Trying to leave his criminal past behind, Joe 'Tom' Yateley (Stanley Baker) starts working for a trucking company. The job is demanding; if a driver is not completing enough trips per day they will be dismissed without a second thought, but Tom is committed.
When he hears that a man by the name of Red (Patrick McGoohan) completes 18 runs every day, Tom wishes to break this record and decides to do so despite the worries of his colleague Gino (Herbert Lom). But as Red and the other drivers trouble Tom he decides he must leave.
Just as he intends to go, secretary Lucy (Peggy Cummins) informs him that Gino has been in an accident and reveals to him the corruption hiding beneath the surface at the trucking company...