Help My Wife's Going trucking!!!

Get a job as a firefighter. They have a lot better pensions than truckers and work a lot less. Being a female and a paramedic will put her at the top of most cities firing lists. Not being sexist just telling the truth.

 

Well if you were exposed then there wasn't any negatives!

 

CanineBoss - thanks for your service! Do your job, keep your head down & come home safe

As for the questions, well, here's my take:

1. What are some of the problems you have seen or experienced with female drivers. We smell better than the men drivers do.
2. What problems have you seen female drivers have because they are female? Some of the ergonomics/equipment, but that is due to height not gender, e.g., the seat (those lumbar thingies don't adjust so well) - if your wife is in shape, there is no strength issue.
3. What are some of the companies that she should stay away from? ( I know that Swift is probably one of these) I don't know that her gender would be any sort of a deciding factor in the major companies. They are all actively recruiting for women and will probably want to have her become a trainer at some point to make the company more "women-friendly".
4. What companies should she definetly consider? (first driving as a solo then later as team when I come home). ( I know that most people seem to like Roehl) What are her/your priorities? Gender doesn't enter into it. Hopefully, she could make a start at a company that you both have decided meets your family goals/plans.
5. What are some of the safety concerns you would have and what would you do to mitagate these concerns? Does she go to the mall by herself? Does she drive to her current job herself? Please do not take offense, but I went from a chi-chi corner office to trucking and I use the same caution I would (or anyone should) when they are traveling. Some people are idjits on the CB (profane but amusing) and like the internet, the CB allows the spineless to act out but one rarely has to use that.

Please do not sell your wife short. I had a guy trainer at one point and it was like traveling with your little brother. I think the larger trucking companies, i.e., the ones that will give recent grads a start, are actively recruiting women and bend over backwards with sensitivity training, liaisons with 24-hr phone availability, requirements to call every day outside the presence of the trainer, etc. It's almost too much and quite frankly, borders on insulting. My Dad ran us harder on roadtrips (he's retired Navy).

Just out of curiosity, and again, PLEASE do not take offense, but is your wife concerned? If she sold cosmetics and traveled on business for a living, would you be as concerned? The areas I sometimes stop in now are not as glamorous as what I might have worked in before, but we're talking about warehouses, rain, mud, stuff like that. I'm still waiting to see the pervs and hoodlums. I don't think there's a higher percentage of those in trucking than there anywhere else. I saw more ho's in the cities I've lived in than I have on the road. I'm still waiting to see a lot lizard! I have seen a lot of bad teeth in trucking but that just reminded me of London. The main thing I have encountered is that some people (vendors, cashiers, wait staff, etc.) will treat truckers terribly. It is amazing to me, and shocking. I hope that I never treated ANYONE the way that some people treat someone who comes in the "driver" entrance instead of the "regular" entrance.

It is natural for your to be concerned about your spouse, just as she is no doubt concerned for you. I don't believe that your wife will encounter any more personal safety issues than she does now if she presents herself as being aware of her surroundings, confident, competent, and capable of doing this job. And from what you describe, she sounds more than able to handle it.

The REAL issues I have/had? Truly? How to plug in my 1800 watt hair dryer in a 12-volt truck thingie and where to put all my shoes.

Good Luck to you both - husband & wife teams are in great demand - you'll (both) be fine

 

1. Avoid SwiftQuit, J.B. JobHunt, and C. R. England Ad. These three companies are at the top of the list of worst companies.

2. Avoid reefer companies no matter how good they are. Reefer involves a lot more unloading than running dry van, and unloading freight (in my opinion) is something that should require a special CDL endorsement. Drivers shouldn't be asked to touch freight.

3. Maybe get into another industry altogether? The person should at least have something lined up in case she doesn't like trucking.

 

I'm a female trucker, and I ran solo for 3 weeks while my co-driver was finishing his training. It was an interesting 3 weeks, but I made it out just fine.

1) I haven't experienced problems with other female drivers, mostly because I don't interact with a lot of other drivers. I'm a social person, but when I wasn't in a terminal, I stayed out of the truck stops unless I was showering or eating. I also had a tendency to stay at rest areas because there's less trucks.

2) Personally the biggest problem I had driving solo was getting propositioned. The most was 3 times in a week, which made me laugh. I am a dumpy, overweight, plain woman. I'm social, and friendly, but I'm nothing to write home about. So getting propositioned made me laugh.

3) CR England is a good one to stay away from. I work for Central Refrigerated, and they're always getting ex-England drivers because England's 1/4 mile down the road from the Salt Lake terminal. The stories those guys had to tell were NOT good. I'd skip CRST too, they force teams, and while you two could team once you're back form Afrganistan, she'd have to team with someone else for that year. Personally, I wouldn't team with anyone I didn't know well, a truck is too small to be cooped up wit ha stranger. From the CRST drivers I've heard, the money's not that great either.

4) I find the company I work for isn't a bad one, Central Refrigerated has problems like any company, but on the whole they treat my co-driver and I pretty well. The biggest problem I have is they're not a team company. They love teams, but unless you run the 'silver bullet' or Dole loads, you don't get a lot of team loads. The good news is unless your dispatcher is a total jerk, they'll usually give you decent loads, and have you drop when you get close to the delivery, so you don't have to sit on the load for 2 days. It doesn't always happen, but they try and get you loads. The downside is that unloading can take a really long time, I've had 10 hours of load/unload in a day before.

Someone posted that Central doesn't allow pets anymore, but I haven't heard that. You might want to double check with a recruiter, there haven't been any Qualcomm messages about it.

Someone else said that reefers make you unload your freight, but I've found Central doesn't. If you get stuck with a nursery load in the spring, or Christmas trees in the winter, you usually have to unload them. My trainer said that if I got stuck with a load like that solo, I needed to call my dispatcher and tell them I'm one woman, and I need someone there to help me, and see what central could do. The only Nursery load I've seen was with my trainer, so it wasn't bad with 2 of us. Central told us in orientation that they'll pay the lumpers more than they pay us to unload, so get a comchek to pay for the lumpers and not do it. I've stuck with that, they hired me to drive freight, not unload, and if they want me to unload it, they're going to pay me what the lumpers get.

5) For security, I carry a 4 D cell MagLite in one hand, and my keys, with pointy car key out, in the other hand. I stabbed my roommate once with the keys, so I know they can hurt, and if nothing else, I could smack someone with a maglite and run like hell if I needed to. I really didn'y encounter a lot of problems, and even now I don't see a lot. My boyfriend looks like a girl, and we still don't get bothered. If you're concerned, or your wife is, get an industrial can of pepper spray, one of the ones that sprays 10 feet. Don't get mace, since some states won't let you have it, but pepper spray is usually okay.

If your wife has spent her life in 'Men's professions' she shouldn't have a problem unless she suddenly goes brain dead and tries to play hapless female while she's out there. I found that by being honest, and admitting I was a rookie, I got answers. Most people out there aren't jerks unless you come across with attitude. I learned a lot just keeping my ears open and my mouth shut. If she's been in a lot of male professions, she should fit right in. It took me a while to get used to it, I'm a computer geek, and it shows. People still have trouble believing I'm a truck driver, because I guess I don't fit the stereotype.

I found going out 3 weeks before my boyfriend actually helped us as far as the job went. I had 3 weeks to shake the newbie jitters, and to get into a groove. Without a trainer, I had to step up and stop being timid. Had the boyfriend been with me, we would have both fed off each other's panic and it would have been a disaster. If your wife has a year out there, she'll know the ins and outs so when you join her, the learning curve will be easier. I've found the first few months are tough though, if your relationship is shaky driving team can ruffle it. I have a jerk dispatcher, and it's caused a lot of fights between the boyfriend and I because dispatch is making us stressed, and we take it out on each other. Keep an eye out for that, and you should be okay

 

LOL, I had a similar experience at a business entirely run and operated by Muslim guys. I parked in the dock, and as I was walking around my truck to get to the stairs a piece of metal hooked on my uniform pants and ripped the side seam apart from waistband to my knees! So here I am with all these men (hoping not to offend them!), offloading my freight with a huge gaping hole down my left leg. I pretended nothing had happened, hoped they didnt notice, and stapled the seam closed as soon as I got back to the terminal so I could finish the day with less shame!

 

Canineboss, from all you put in your post, your wife will be just fine. I worked in a mans world all my life and trucking was just something more fun and better for me to do.
There is always the occasional dink, but they are everywhere, you dont have to be driving a truck to encounter them! On the whole everyone great!
Give her your love and support and she will do the rest!

 

I've just started training at Interstate. There are allot of women drivers that drive here. Also they have allot of teams. I'm a new guy so I don't know too much yet, but what I've seen and observed is that all of the people there are treated equal and are respected. The atmosphere at Interstate is casual and pleasant. Also they have great instructors.

Love those Auto's

 

read this as well Women Truckers