I did not want to bury this day inside a weekly summary article, but because of the way it ended, it deserves its own place. I spent only a little more than two hours behind the wheel. But the whole shift, the working time, and everything around that day added up to about nine hours.
This day clearly confirmed something for me: truck life is not only about the time spent behind the wheel. Sometimes the actual driving is only a smaller part of the whole day, and some of the most interesting moments can happen around it.
When I Stepped Out of the Truck
At one point, I parked the truck at the company yard and I was no longer continuing as a driver. But that did not mean I was already home, showered, and lying somewhere on the couch. It only meant that I changed to a different form of transport.
I went home by train. Yes, I am not joking — and not just one train, but three!
After a week in the truck, I did not get into a car and drive straight home. And exactly that was the strongest moment of the whole day for me.
Truck life did not end when I stepped out of the cab. It simply moved away from the steering wheel and into a train carriage.
Maybe this would make someone angry. Maybe someone else would complain that after such a week, they still had to get home by three trains. But I did not feel it as a problem at that moment. I am not saying I was not tired. I was. But in a strange way, it did not bother me.
Three Trains and a Nomadic Feeling
I have always liked travelling, and maybe it is somehow wired into my DNA. I like new places, roads, and that feeling that you are going somewhere.
Sometimes I tell myself that I am a bit of a nomad.
Sitting on a train after a week in the truck had a special atmosphere. I no longer had to watch the traffic and think about the freight. I could simply enjoy the view from the window and look at the surrounding countryside.
The working day was still echoing in my head, but my body no longer had to focus on the road. I was still moving, but the movement suddenly had a different character.
For me, a journey is not always just a necessary inconvenience between work and home. A journey is often a space where I think, watch the landscape, and realise that my life is not exactly ordinary.
Truck Life Does Not End at the Steering Wheel
That is why I wanted to keep this day as a separate article. Because it captures something that is difficult to explain only through numbers.
Two hours and nineteen minutes of driving does not look like much. But nine hours of work and three trains home after a week in the truck tell a completely different story.
Truck life is not only kilometres and a tachograph. It is an entire way of life in motion. Sometimes I am a driver in the cab. Other times I am a passenger on a train. Sometimes I hold the steering wheel, and other times I hold my bag and wait for the next train connection. And maybe that was the whole point for me:
My truck life continues even when I am no longer sitting in the cab.