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

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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?

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:02):
Welcome to Dan the Road Trip Guy.
I'm your host Dan, and each weekwe'll embark on a new adventure,
discovering memory and lifelessons of our incredible
guests.
From everyday travelers tothrill seekers and everyone in
between, this podcast is yourfront row seat to inspiring
stories of passion, resilience,and the pursuit of happiness.
So buckle up and enjoy the ride.

(00:30):
I had the urge to do a personalrecording tonight.
There were a couple things thathappened this week that just
sort of got me in the mood.
This week was our company'souting to the Cincinnati Reds
baseball game.
I rode down, well no, I didn'tride.
I drove right, I'm Dan the roadtrip guy, with one of my
co-workers.
Along the way we chatted backand forth, back and forth.

(00:52):
We were about halfway down tothe game, and of course he knows
I love to drive.
He goes, Did you ever thinkabout being a truck driver?
And wow, that took me back to mychildhood.
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 owneroperator, long haul truck

(01:13):
driver, gone all week long,sometimes even longer.
He worked on his own truck, andhe drove many, many miles.
Sometimes with a teammate,sometimes without.
Well, actually, most of the timewithout.
At some point I got old enoughto pull the truck up from the
church parking lot, which wasjust down the street from our

(01:33):
house, up to the grocery storeon Saturday nights, cleared the
way for church services onSunday, and the store was closed
on Sunday.
And so at some point, my brotherand I both were given the
opportunity to drive the truckup, I don't know, it was
probably 500 feet.
But the most important part wasbacking it in.

(01:55):
I'm guessing I could probablystill 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, Istill wanted to be a truck
driver.
There was a point when I wenthome one weekend.
My dad was home and he goes,Hey, I got to do a short run
down to Tennessee.

(02:16):
We'll go down tonight, we'llspend 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 fewhundred miles.
We did.
We slept in the truck.
I'm pretty sure he probably putme in the sleeper of that cab
over Kenworth while he laidacross the doghouse.
That's what he called it.

(02:36):
I don't know if all truckdrivers call that the doghouse.
It was the big hump in a cabover truck over the engine.
Anyway, we get up the nextmorning, we unload, and we head
home.
We were probably about four orfive miles from home.
My dad eases the truck over tothe shoulder of the road, and he
goes, All right, you drive.

(02:58):
Now this was my first everopportunity to drive the big rig
on the open road, quickly intothat seat.
And then I'm staring at twoshifters because his truck had a
five speed and a four-speedtransmission.
And I'm like, oh, I've neverchanged gears going up to park

(03:21):
the truck, other than to put itinto reverse.
And now I gotta shift twolevers?
I don't know.
But we headed out, I raked a lotof gears getting home in that
four or five miles.
We finished a journey, I gothome, parked the truck, and we
walked up to the house from thechurch, and my dad simply looked

(03:42):
at me and said, So, do you stillwant 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 highschool, but he was one of the
smartest guys I knew.
He could have probably been agreat engineer.
He could have probably builtanything, but that day he wanted

(04:06):
to teach me a lesson about why Idid not want to be a truck
driver.
So I shared that story with mycoworker.
So I said, you know, no, Ididn't want to be a truck
driver.
When you're six years old, tenyears old, even eighteen years
old, it looks pretty glamorous.
Hey, I love truck drivers, Ilove seeing trucks.

(04:29):
I'm happy they're out therehauling our freight up and down
the road.
I'm not sure we would have aneconomy without those truck
drivers.
Hats off to all those truckdrivers.
Now, I still love to drive, Istill love to ride, I love a
road trip.
If you were to call me up rightnow and say, I gotta go to
Florida, do you want to ridealong and maybe drive?

(04:52):
I'm in.
So remember that if you everneed to make a cross country
trip, or you just need to make ashort trip, I'm here.
Reach out, we'll take a drive.
I hope you enjoyed this littleepisode.
It was good for me.
And I've got more coming up, sostay tuned.
And if you want to be a guest onDan the Road Trip Guy, reach out

(05:14):
to me because I believe everyonehas a story to share.
Until next time.
Thank you for tuning in to Danthe Road Trip Guy.
I hope you enjoyed our journeytoday and the stories that were
shared.
If you have any thoughts orquestions or stories of your
own, I'd love to hear from you.
Feel free to reach out to meanytime.
Don't forget to share thispodcast with your friends and

(05:36):
family and help us to spread thejoy 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 onthe internet at
dantheroadripguy.com.