From Big Rigs to Life Lessons: A Father's Unexpected Teaching Moment

Have you ever had a childhood dream dramatically change when confronted with reality? That moment when what seemed glamorous from afar revealed its true complexity up close?

Today, I'm sharing a deeply personal story about my lifelong fascination with truck driving. Growing up as the son of a long-haul trucker, I idolized my father's profession. The massive Kenworth cab-over, the open road, the independence – it all seemed like the perfect life. My childhood was punctuated by small thrills like moving Dad's truck around parking lots and learning to back it into tight spaces.

The turning point came during college when my father invited me on a short haul to Tennessee. Just miles from home on our return trip, he pulled over and spoke four words that would change everything: "All right, you drive." Suddenly facing two transmission shifters and the reality of operating an 18-wheeler, my confidence crumbled with each grinding gear. When we finally arrived home, Dad asked a simple question: "So, do you still want to be a truck driver?" My answer surprised even myself.

This experience taught me something profound about dreams versus reality, and the wisdom of my father who, despite not finishing high school, knew exactly how to guide me toward self-discovery. Though my career path changed that day, my love for the road never diminished. I still jump at any chance for a journey, which is why I'm extending an open invitation – if you need a driving companion for any trip, reach out! I believe everyone has a story worth sharing, and some of the best conversations happen on the road. What childhood dream did you leave behind, and what did it teach you?

Chapters

• 0:00 Podcast Introduction
• 0:30 Childhood Dream of Truck Driving
• 1:27 First Big Rig Driving Experience
• 3:48 Life Lesson from Dad
• 5:03 Invitation and Episode Closing

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:02

Welcome to Dan the Road Trip Guy. I'm your host Dan, and each week we'll embark on a new adventure, discovering memory and life lessons of our incredible guests. From everyday travelers to thrill seekers and everyone in between, this podcast is your front row seat to inspiring stories of passion, resilience, and the pursuit of happiness. So buckle up and enjoy the ride. I had the urge to do a personal recording tonight. There were a couple things that happened this week that just sort of got me in the mood. This week was our company's outing to the Cincinnati Reds baseball game. I rode down, well no, I didn't ride. I drove right, I'm Dan the road trip guy, with one of my co-workers. Along the way we chatted back and forth, back and forth. We were about halfway down to the game, and of course he knows I love to drive. He goes, Did you ever think about being a truck driver? And wow, that took me back to my childhood. Yes, I said. As a matter of fact, growing up, that's all I wanted to be was a truck driver. You see, my dad was an owner operator, long haul truck driver, gone all week long, sometimes even longer. He worked on his own truck, and he drove many, many miles. Sometimes with a teammate, sometimes without. Well, actually, most of the time without. At some point I got old enough to pull the truck up from the church parking lot, which was just down the street from our house, up to the grocery store on Saturday nights, cleared the way for church services on Sunday, and the store was closed on Sunday. And so at some point, my brother and I both were given the opportunity to drive the truck up, I don't know, it was probably 500 feet. But the most important part was backing it in. I'm guessing I could probably still back a truck in. It might take me a few tries, but I could probably do it. But that's all I wanted to be. Even until through college, I still wanted to be a truck driver. There was a point when I went home one weekend. My dad was home and he goes, Hey, I got to do a short run down to Tennessee. We'll go down tonight, we'll spend the night in the truck, and we'll come back tomorrow. Huh. I was like, you bet. When we leaving. So off we went. It was a short run, a few hundred miles. We did. We slept in the truck. I'm pretty sure he probably put me in the sleeper of that cab over Kenworth while he laid across the doghouse. That's what he called it. I don't know if all truck drivers call that the doghouse. It was the big hump in a cab over truck over the engine. Anyway, we get up the next morning, we unload, and we head home. We were probably about four or five miles from home. My dad eases the truck over to the shoulder of the road, and he goes, All right, you drive. Now this was my first ever opportunity to drive the big rig on the open road, quickly into that seat. And then I'm staring at two shifters because his truck had a five speed and a four-speed transmission. And I'm like, oh, I've never changed gears going up to park the truck, other than to put it into reverse. And now I gotta shift two levers? I don't know. But we headed out, I raked a lot of gears getting home in that four or five miles. We finished a journey, I got home, parked the truck, and we walked up to the house from the church, and my dad simply looked at me and said, So, do you still want to be a truck driver? And I looked at him and I said, I don't think I want to. And he said, Good. Now, my dad did not finish high school, but he was one of the smartest guys I knew. He could have probably been a great engineer. He could have probably built anything, but that day he wanted to teach me a lesson about why I did not want to be a truck driver. So I shared that story with my coworker. So I said, you know, no, I didn't want to be a truck driver. When you're six years old, ten years old, even eighteen years old, it looks pretty glamorous. Hey, I love truck drivers, I love seeing trucks. I'm happy they're out there hauling our freight up and down the road. I'm not sure we would have an economy without those truck drivers. Hats off to all those truck drivers. Now, I still love to drive, I still love to ride, I love a road trip. If you were to call me up right now and say, I gotta go to Florida, do you want to ride along and maybe drive? I'm in. So remember that if you ever need to make a cross country trip, or you just need to make a short trip, I'm here. Reach out, we'll take a drive. I hope you enjoyed this little episode. It was good for me. And I've got more coming up, so stay tuned. And if you want to be a guest on Dan the Road Trip Guy, reach out to me because I believe everyone has a story to share. Until next time. Thank you for tuning in to Dan the Road Trip Guy. I hope you enjoyed our journey today and the stories that were shared. If you have any thoughts or questions or stories of your own, I'd love to hear from you. Feel free to reach out to me anytime. Don't forget to share this podcast with your friends and family and help us to spread the joy of road trips and great conversations. Until next time, keep driving, keep exploring, and keep having those amazing conversations. Safe travels. And remember, you can find me on the internet at dantheroadripguy.com.