Interviews with Minority Drivers?

Did you read the complete thread? I thought Valerie and I had made peace between us, regardless of our differing views. Have I missed something?

 

Nope, looks like I did John.I missed that post.I wasn't being a jerk with you though.Just telling it like I see it..

Just the same, sorry if it came out that way..

 

To better understand why 19 out 20 were white guys...When trucking started it was farmers and ranch hands who took to the roads.....The sons and their grandsons took to the roads when they were old enough....
And it stands to reason that when trucking started...most farmers and ranchers in America were white.....

Farming/ranching went hand in had with driving the early days because the early trucks required mechanical skills and a little sweat to keep them running.....Same as running a farm or a ranch.....

You could embellish your research if you would consider the history of trucking and lead up to the "minority" drivers.....

 

My stepmoms father was a trucker in Brooklyn in the 1920's and 30's.Believe me,he never spent a minute on a farm growing up and neither did I.

Why would she embellish anything? She wants to talk with people who are driving.If she wanted to just make stuff up,she could do that..

What do you mean by the ''lead up to minority drivers?''

 

There are a significant number of Reservation escapees like myself out here, too. I'm what the guv'mint would call a "double minority" because I'm also female.

That said, I do not feel like I am treated any differently than anyone else. As long as I respect myself and do not disrespect others, I am treated well. My pay is the same as anyone else's out here. I get paid for the work I do. No more, no less. There were no "special negotiations" when I got in my truck. I drive, I get paid. I usually use the same filthy bathroom as everyone else at shippers and receivers with all the artwork on the walls, stay at the same truck stops, eat the same food.... I am in "the family" so to speak.

Three stories that may help you.

In Tampa last year, I was just minding my own biz when I was passed by an oversize hauler. We exchanged greetings and he went on his way. A few minutes later, I picked up a 4-wheeler hanger-on who would not go away. I looked over to see what his issue was and there he was, in all his glory, pants around his ankles and just going to town on it. I honked my horn a few times to try to embarrass him and make him go away, but it only made things worse. I slowed down, he slowed down...I sped up, he sped up...I changed lanes, he followed. Finally, I got back on the radio to the oversize hauler and told him what was going on. He told me to ease up on the rear of his trailer and see what happens. I did...he moved into the lane to the left and slowed down so the guy in the car had to pass him. He followed me in on the oversize's right. As soon as I cleared the front of the oversize, that crane started easing back over into the right lane. The weenie guy had no choice but to exit at the next ramp. It's like family...we can pick on each other, but when a stranger gets involved, everyone turns on them.

Story #2

During the elections, the radio was on fire with opinions on this or that, generally surrounding the ethnicity of the candidates. When I am on the radio, there is no way to tell what my ethnicity is. (I prefer this to "race" because all of us on this earth are of the Human race, just different parts of it.) Since this is not a discussion about politics, I will not say who I chose to support...and you would actually be surprised if I did say. Anyway, there were two sides of the discussion going on and I needed road information. I asked for a break and made a comment about the discussion. The African-American guy got upset with me, even though I was kind of backing him, and basically said, "That's not your fight to fight." I had to correct him and remind him you can't make a judgment on someone just because of what they sound like....or what they look like.

Story #3

I worked for a very large to remain unnamed company when I first started driving. I was deadheaded (ran empty) for over 1,000 miles to pick up a load going 250. When I arrived at the terminal to pick this load up, I dropped my empty, got under the loaded tailer, got my paperwork and got ready to leave. There were about 30 other drivers sitting around waiting for loads when I got there. You can imagine the hue and cry that emanated from the crowd when I rolled in and rolled out so easily. The assumption from the mostly male crowd was that I had performed some physical favor to a bigwig in the company to get a load so easily. What they didn't bother to observe and what I finally pointed out to them was it was a hazmat load and if any one of them had hazmat on their licenses, they would have rolled out with that load instead of having to send me in from over 1,000 miles away. Most of them turned away with sheepish looks on their faces...the rest just stood there and watched me roll out of the yard with a trailer placarded for hazardous materials that they could not haul because they did not take the extra time or spend the extra money for the certification. In this business, it's about what you do, not who you are.

Sometimes I am grateful I am outside that whole Black/White thing...it gets so ugly sometimes. And I do concur that the more the subject is pressed by what some call "Race-Baiters" the worse the problem becomes. I am like 90% of Americans: I am tired of the argument and ready to move on. I do not agree with "Affirmative Action" because I want to be judged on my merits and my character rather than my gender and my ethnicity. As long as Affirmative Action exists, there will always be the question as to how I got where I am...and it undermines my own hard work.

I hope this has been helpful.

 

I have to say it. Your head is definitely screwed on straight. Excellent post!!

 

No worry at all. I didn't think you a jerk at all.You were being honest with your opinion, and that's a good thing.

 

Check your history.....Most of the original truckers weren't city boys....

Were there any minority drivers prior to WWII working for the major carriers? Check your history.......

 

Lillie Elizabeth McGee started driving truck in 1928. The following year, 1929, she owned her own trucking business and acquired her (what would become) CDL. Her trucking company was called Drennan Truck Lines and employed mostly Black men. Check your history, friend.

 

Exception....not the rule.......

We had the Tuskegee Airmen serving in WWII....
Again....they were the exception and not the rule for the times.....

Those farmers and ranchers I refer to, were the pioneers and trailblazers for what is now modern trucking.....They were the rule back in those days....

How many minorities had the money to purchase a truck.....let alone a house in the beginning of the 20th Century?

I am not trying to diminish the contributions of the minorities...but it wasn't until after Title VII was enforced that minorities began to make a massive impact on America....
Before then....it was a "White America".....