After 20 years as a truck driver, I thought I’d seen it all on those long, empty highways. But I never imagined that picking up a hitchhiker would lead to a tearful reunion, a viral thank you, and the end of my days on the road..
I’ve been a truck driver for years. Being a woman in this profession isn’t common, but I chose this path, knowing the challenges it would bring.
Life has a way of pushing you down roads you never expected to travel. For me, that road opened up when my husband walked out on me and our four-year-old twins, Gia and Vinnie.
My dad drove trucks until he was 55. I grew up watching him leave for days at a time, always coming back with stories from his routes. And despite what most believe, this job comes with a nice enough salary. It kept food on the table while I was growing up.
A big truck driving through a beautiful road
So, when I needed to support my kids alone, I knew this would be the best option. I got my commercial license and started driving. The company was even better than my dad’s because it included insurance and other benefits.
The downside was that it put me on the road for weeks at a time. I was lucky that my mother stepped up to care for my kids while I was away, but I missed too much. Many birthday parties were planned around my schedule.
A little boy and girl, twins, looking up with curious expressions in a living room
Other things couldn’t be moved, like school plays. In many cases, I was left to watch shaky video recordings of my kids’ milestones. But this paid the bills, and they never went hungry. In fact, they had even more than I did.
Unfortunately, they’re now adults and out of the house. They still call, and they’re grateful, but my mother was more of a mother to them than I was. And the guilt of missing their childhood still rides shotgun with me most nights.
Woman in her 60s smiling and cooking in a kitchen with two kids in the background
But everything changed on a particularly gray evening on my way through a quiet stretch of highway.
I saw a boy, maybe 16, standing by the roadside. His clothes were wrinkled. He looked exhausted, but there was something else in his eyes like he didn’t know where to go.
I slowed down and pulled over. My company’s policy strictly forbade me from picking up hitchhikers, but something told me I should.
“Hey, there, kid. Do you need a ride?” I asked through the open window. My voice came out firm but kind, like I was talking to one of my own children.
Woman driving a truck stops on the side of the road and leans out the window
He hesitated, looking up and down the empty road.
“Listen, I ain’t got all day to wait, kid,” I said, trying to keep my voice light. “It’s getting pretty dark, and this ain’t exactly the safest place to be standing around.”
Finally, he nodded and climbed in, struggling a bit with the height of the cab.
“Is this your first time in a big rig?” I asked, watching him fumble with the seatbelt.
“Yeah,” he mumbled, finally clicking it in place.
Teenager sitting on the passenger side of a big truck looking sad | Source: Midjourney
“My name’s Julianne,” I said, pulling back onto the highway. “Most folks call me Jules.”
He stared out the window, shoulders hunched. “Alex.”
I nodded and got back on the road. We drove in silence, the truck’s engine filling the void. After a while, I asked, “Where are you headed?”
“I don’t really know,” he mumbled, still staring out the window.
“You running away from something?”
He nodded but didn’t elaborate.
A teenage boy looking out the window from the passenger seat of a truck
“Look, kid,” I said, “I’ve been driving these roads for 20 years. Seen all sorts of people trying to escape all sorts of things. Most times, running just makes everything worse.”
“You don’t know anything about me,” he snapped, but his voice cracked at the end.
“You’re right,” I said calmly. “But I know that look in your eyes.”
The kid stared out the window again, and I let him be.
Up ahead, I saw a gas station and my gaze landed on the fuel gauge. It was low. So I pulled in next to a pump and got out of the rig.
A gas station at night
“I’m going inside to pay,” I told him. “Do you want anything?”
He shook his head, but his stomach growled loudly enough for both of us to hear.
“Right,” I said with a small smile. “Nothing it is.”
Inside the store, I grabbed a couple of sodas, some chips, and two turkey sandwiches and paid for them as well as the diesel.
A fridge in a convenience store with several food items
When I returned, he still wouldn’t meet my eyes, so I pumped the diesel and climbed into the truck to wait while it fueled up.
“Here,” I said, tossing him a sandwich. “I can’t have you starving on my watch.”
He caught it reflexively. “Thanks,” he whispered.
“Do you want to talk?” I asked softly after he’d taken a few bites. “You seem like you’ve got a lot on your mind.”
A teenage boy holding a sandwich in a wrapper
He fiddled with the sandwich wrapper. “Fought with my mom,” he finally mumbled. “I ran away.”
“It must’ve been some fight,” I said, keeping my voice neutral.
“She wouldn’t let me go to France with my class,” he burst out. “Everyone else is going, but she said we can’t afford it.” His voice cracked again. “I hate being the poorest kid in class. She always says no to everything. It’s like she doesn’t even try to understand how much this means to me.”
A striking view of Paris
“Hold on to that thought for a second,” I said, getting out and putting the pump hose back in place since the tank was full.
I climbed back in and pulled onto the highway. “Okay, now. Tell me about your mom.”
“She works at a supermarket,” he muttered, his words heavy with resentment. “My dad left when I was little. She’s always working, always tired. Always saying we can’t afford things.”
A supermarket
“It sounds rough,” I said. “Things must be hard on both of you.”
“Whatever,” he muttered, but I could hear the hurt behind the attitude.
“My husband left when my twins were four,” I said. “It was a long time ago, but I had to figure out how to keep food on the table real quick.”
That got his attention. He glanced at me sidewise with a hint of amusement. “Is that why you’re a truck driver? I’ve never seen a woman doing this before.”
A teenage boy smiling while sitting in the passenger seat of a truck
“Yeah,” I said. “I missed a lot of moments with my kids. It still hurts thinking about it. But you know what? They never went hungry or wanted for anything.”
“But didn’t they hate you for never being there?” he asked, and I could hear his real question underneath: Would it be better if my mom worked this job?
“Sometimes,” I admitted. “We had some pretty spectacular fights about it when they were teenagers. But now they understand. Your mom’s there for you in ways money can’t buy… with her time and her love. I think if you ask my kids, they’ll say that they would’ve preferred that.”
A teenage boy and girl, twins, upset in a living room
Alex looked away from me, and I sensed he needed the quiet time to think while he picked on the rest of his sandwich.
The highway stretched ahead, now fully dark except for my headlights. I was used to the loneliness of the road, but it was nice having a companion, even if we weren’t speaking.
“She cries sometimes,” he said suddenly. “When she thinks I’m asleep. I hear her on the phone with my aunt, talking about bills and stuff.”
A woman using a calculator while dealing with bills
“That must be hard to hear,” I said softly.
“I just wanted to go on one stupid trip,” he said, swallowing thickly. “Everyone’s gonna come back with all these stories and pictures, and I’ll be the loser who stayed home.”
“You’re not a loser, Alex,” I said firmly. “And neither is your mom. You’re both just doing the best you can with what you’ve been given. You have more already than many.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw him nodding. After another long silence, Alex asked, “Can you take me to the bus stop?”
A bus stop at night
I looked at his face, noticed his lost expression had changed to something much different, and smiled, turning my eyes back to the road.
“No,” I said. “I’m taking you home. I’m ahead of schedule, so I’ve got time to make sure you get there safely. You need to talk to your mom.”
“She’s gonna kill me,” he groaned.
“Nah,” I said. “She’s gonna hug you so hard you won’t be able to breathe for a minute. Then maybe she’ll kill you.”
That got a small laugh out of him.
He gave me directions to a modest house. As soon as Alex stepped out of the truck, the front door flew open.
A modest house at night
“Alex!” a woman cried, running out. “Oh my God, Alex!”
She wrapped him in a tight hug as tears streamed down her face.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” he sobbed into her shoulder. “I was being stupid. I’m so sorry.”
His mother—Mary—turned to me, still holding her child. “Thank you,” she said shakily. “Thank you for bringing him back. I didn’t know what to think when I found his note. I’ve been calling everyone, driving around looking for him…”
“It’s okay,” I said. “I had teenagers once, too.”
“Please,” Mary said, “at least let me make you a cup of coffee before you go.”
Woman in her 40s, wearing a uniform and smiling, stands in front of a modest house with a teenage boy in the background
“I’ll take a rain check,” I said with a smile. “I’ve got deliveries to make. But how about a picture instead? Something to remind this young man to think twice before running away AND hitching rides with strangers again.”
Alex actually smiled at that. Mary took a picture of him and me on her phone, then insisted on writing down my name and company information.
I stupidly forgot to tell her that my company had a strict no-hitchhikers policy, and unfortunately, Mary made a Facebook post later that night thanking me, which went viral.
Woman in uniform smiling while using a phone inside a bedroom
So, a week later, when my boss, Mr. Luther, called me into his office, I was sure I was sacked. I walked in there, feeling the sweat down my back.
But he was smiling from ear to ear. “Jules, our viral star!” he exclaimed and congratulated me on raising the profile of the company.
When he invited me to sit, I remained quiet. This was not what I expected.
“Honestly, Jules,” he said, getting serious but still grinning. “You’ve been one of our best drivers for years. This story just proves what we already knew about you. That is why I’d like to offer you a promotion. I think you have a leader potential, so I believe the position of logistics manager is perfect for you. You’ll have to relocate or commute to the city, but it’s more than double the pay and much better hours.”
Man in his 60s sitting in an office and smiling
I couldn’t believe it. After all these years of long, lonely highways and missed moments, I finally got the chance to have normal hours.
Even if this opportunity came slightly late in my life, it meant that I would be able to see my kids graduating from college, get married, help with my grandbabies (or grand-furbabies if needed), and more.
Sometimes the best turns in life come from following your heart instead of the rules.
That night, I helped one boy get back to his mom, and maybe altered his perspective of life. But they had unknowingly helped me much more.
Here’s another story: A heavily pregnant taxi driver offers a homeless and injured stranger a free ride to the hospital on a rainy night. The next morning, she wakes up to a parade of SUVs outside her house. Suited men knock on her door with a truth that alters her life forever.
This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.