What Was Your "ahhh...this Is Why I Did It" Moment?

I'll be attending CDL school here in the next couple months and was just wondering if anyone wanted to share their story of when they realized trucking was their "destiny", I guess you could call it. Was it that first drive through the mountains and getting to see the beautiful scenery? was it that first time you made $100k+ in a year? or was it something else? I'm mainly asking just so I can stay motivated and have something to look forward to and hopefully relate to in the future. So, what's your story?

was it that first time you made $100k+ in a year?

Still waiting on that moment.

I absolutely love-and I think I always will-being on an empty stretch of highway in the middle of the night with my high beams lighting up the reflectors on the road in front of me. It's too dark to see anything on either side of the road. There are no other vehicles/headlights in sight. The rest of the world might not even exist for all you care. It's just you and the road lit up just for you. Like a highway to your dreams. Combine that with the music of your choice blaring from the speakers, and you've got yourself an "Aha!" moment.

Traveling East through the southern California desert on i-40 just before the sun rises is also an amazing experience. The stars gradually fade away as the sky begins to brighten from black to dark, velvety blue. Just before the sun rises above the horizon the only light in the sky is Venus, which is super-bright.

After all the training was over and I had my solo truck, my wife joined me and one of our first trips was to CA. That by itself was a pretty cool experience for us both.

After dinner and showers at a Sacramento truck stop, we were walking back across the dark smelly parking lot to our truck when I began to half wonder what she was thinking about all of this.

"This is our new life now, babe" I said, emphasizing how this was a 180° shift from what we were accustomed to.

In my mind, I was still clear that this was something I wanted to pursue. But I wasn't alltogether sure about her yet. After all, I had been driving for months at this point. She only a week.

Upon hearing my question, she tucked her arm a little deeper into mine as we walked, and in the childlike, enthusiastic, adventurous spirit that I fell in love with so many eons ago, she simply said: " I know, isn't it cool!"

That was the moment.

These beautiful views I see every day. I love the mountains and getting to drive in them almost daily. And the money. The last full year before I lost my cdl a couple years ago I made $74k which was the most I’d ever made. I hope to be over $100k in the next couple of years after I finish paying my dues all over again

Like RealDiehl, I’m still searching for it. But paying off $20k in 14 months was a bit of a moment.

Being able to pay >$20k cash for the fence was another moment.

Occasionally, I sit and enjoy the fact God, and this job, allow me to come home to this.

But most of all, that these wonderful people have stuck with me AND that I can treat them to many luxuries😎

The second day in school I got to drive. Was just me and the instructor and one other student. Sun was coming up over the hills in Phoenix. Totally peaceful. Just on some back roads. I thought to myself, I can do this.

My first solo delivery. I was shaking getting it in the dock. Really was nervous, terrified. I watched the sun come up, the store worker who knew it was my first time,looked it over and nodded. After I got it done, I felt foolish for being nervous but confident that I could change my life.