06.25.2007
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| Woman trucker battles the odds
Woman trucker battles the odds 6/25/07 Quote:
"Princess Di" springs up the steps and into the cab of her 18-wheeler, eager to hit the highway. I, on the other hand, have all I can do to just hoist myself into a claustrophobic space the size of a closet. As "Princess Di" turns the ignition, my seat quakes to life and I'm on the verge of spending the next 10 hours strapped to what seems like a pogo stick as the engine's drone fills my head, lulling me into lethargy.
"Princess Di" is the CB radio handle of Diana Herdman, a 35-year-old mother of two from Beacon Falls who is among 182,000 women driving tractor-trailers in the U.S., according to 2006 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. With nearly 3.3 million males behind the wheel, the industry is still mainly the territory of middle-aged, Lynyrd Skynyrd-loving, blue jeans- wearing men.
Despite the numbers, Herdman, right down to her hot pink fingernails, loves trucking. Always has. In 1990, she picked up her Naugatuck High School diploma and headed straight for the New England Tractor-Trailer Training School.
She was the only woman in her class, but she said she never felt intimidated by the big rig or the boys, and quickly squelched any criticism by excelling behind the wheel.
"A lot of guys there couldn't back up for beans and just didn't get it," she says. "It came easy to me." Maybe that's because Herdman's got diesel in her blood.
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Last edited by WiseOne; 06.26.2007 at 11.30 AM.
Reason: Fixed Coding Error
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