It’s the part of the job we don’t like to talk about. The part that keeps you up at night, even years later. I’m talking about accidents. Every truck driver has a story, or knows someone who does. And no matter how experienced or careful you are, the road doesn’t always play fair.
I’ve been driving long-haul for over a decade. I’ve logged more miles than I can count, through rain, snow, fog, heatwaves—you name it. Most days are routine. You check your rig, plan your route, and keep your head on a swivel. But all it takes is one moment, one mistake—yours or someone else’s—for everything to change.
My first real scare was outside Amarillo, Texas. I was hauling a full load, doing everything by the book, when a car cut me off trying to make an exit they almost missed. I slammed the brakes, tires screaming, trailer fishtailing behind me. By some miracle, I kept control. No one was hurt. But I sat in that cab for ten minutes afterward, hands shaking, replaying it over and over in my head.
Not everyone gets that lucky.
I’ve seen wrecks that left me rattled for days. I’ve pulled over to help other drivers, called 911 more times than I ever wanted to. The worst ones always seem to happen in bad weather, or on narrow highways where one wrong move means disaster.
What people don’t realize is how much weight we’re carrying. An 80,000-pound truck doesn’t stop on a dime. We can’t swerve like a car. We don’t have the luxury of quick reflexes when someone’s texting and drifting into our lane. And yet, when accidents happen, the blame often lands on the trucker.
After every close call, there’s paperwork, drug tests, incident reports. But there’s also guilt. Even when it’s not your fault, you wonder—Could I have done something different? Could I have seen it coming? It’s a heavy burden to carry.
But we keep driving. Because we know the risks. We take the job seriously. We train, we double-check, we learn from every mistake.
And we hope—every time we start that engine—that the people sharing the road with us understand we’re not just machines behind the wheel.
We’re people. And we’re doing everything we can to make it home safe.
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