Rusty Nail is intentionally shrouded in mystery his real name, age, and past are never revealed in any of the three films. He lacks an official biography; it is unknown when or why he began killing. In the first installment, he is portrayed as a solitary, sociopathic driver who reacts with extreme violence to any perceived sign of disrespect. Among truckers, he has become a dark legend a "ghost of the highway" with seasoned drivers at truck stops warning newcomers to avoid deserted roads and, above all, never to provoke him. He acts as a punisher for transgressions on the road; he does not target random people for profit, but rather pursues those who in his view have shown him disrespect, lied to him, cut him off in traffic, or dared to mock him. He possesses superhuman strength and resilience: although canonically a human being, he displays terrifying power for instance, in the first film, he tears off his first victim’s lower jaw with his bare hands. Furthermore, he consistently survives as if by a miracle devastating car crashes and shootouts with the police.

He also demonstrates high intelligence and tracking skills: Rusty possesses an expert knowledge of the American highway system, knows how to hack into police radio frequencies, can track individuals without the aid of modern technology, and is a master at constructing lethal traps.

A black Peterbilt truck. Its signature look is a black Peterbilt 359 heavy-duty semi-truck, featuring a roaring engine and blinding headlights. Although the truck is destroyed or burned up in the finales of the films, Rusty appears behind the wheel of a new one in the subsequent installment (at the end of the sequel, he briefly switches to a red semi-truck).