May 19, 2025 was the day.
After many hours spent in theory classes, I was finally going to drive a truck for the first time. Not just sit in one. Not just look at one. But actually take the key, start the engine, and begin.
And honestly, it felt unreal.
I was excited, nervous, smiling, and full of that strange kind of energy that comes when something you have imagined for a long time suddenly becomes real. The weather was beautiful, which somehow made the whole day feel even more special. It did not feel ordinary at all. It felt like one of those days you know you will remember.
When I arrived at the training ground, I met the instructor I would be driving with. He welcomed me and started by explaining the basic setup of the vehicle. Seat position, mirrors, the basics I would need before moving even a metre.
Then came the moment.
He handed me the key, and for the first time in my life, I started a truck.
That feeling is hard to describe. Sitting in a truck feels completely different from sitting in a car. Suddenly, everything is bigger. Higher. Wider. The view from the cabin changes everything. You are sitting above the road, looking out at the world from a totally different perspective.
In that moment, I felt it very strongly: this is exactly where I want to be.
The first metres
Of course, my first metres were only on the training ground.
I started learning the very basics: moving forward between cones, reversing, parallel parking, straight parking, and reversing backwards as if into a garage.
Every movement needed more attention than in a car. Everything felt bigger, slower, heavier, and less forgiving. You cannot just turn casually and hope it works out. You have to think ahead. You have to feel the size of the vehicle. You have to start understanding where the truck is going, where the rear is moving, and how much space you really need.
One thing that genuinely surprised me was the gearbox.
I was learning with a manual transmission.
So for me, it was not only about the truck’s size and weight. I also had to deal with a manual gearbox that felt completely different from a normal car, including the low and high range. It was a lot to take in at once, but I loved it.
This felt right
That is probably the main feeling I want to remember from that day.
Yes, it was difficult. Yes, it was new. Yes, I had to think about many things at the same time. But none of that discouraged me. Actually, it did the opposite.
It confirmed something in me.
This world made more sense to me than all the jobs I had done before, especially after everything that led me to become a truck driver. I am not saying those jobs were useless. They were part of my path. But this felt different. This felt alive. Real. Tangible.
A truck is not abstract. You feel it. You hear it. You work with it. You have to be present. And I loved that immediately.
The next days would continue in a similar rhythm. I would spend around three hours a day driving in traffic, mostly in the city. Because that is where the real challenge is.
Highway driving is not easy either, of course, but the core of the training is in urban traffic, in built-up areas, in real situations where you have to constantly watch space, mirrors, signs, corners, pedestrians, and everything around you.
I was looking forward to it. Because the biggest thing had already happened. I had crossed the line between imagining this life and actually starting it. And that felt amazing.