Women Drivers

I was going to respond Ms. @Conspicuous_Cutie but too late now... Looks like she hasn't been here since 2014...
So, I will share this...

Yesterday a driver next to me watched me do the post trip and then clean the windshields... and then he said, "WOW! Never seen anybody do that...!"
Me - oh... REALLY!?
I found that a little difficult to believe...
Then he asked if I was a solo driver... And when I said yes, he asked why...
WHY? I thought... what a silly question...
So I asked him... Are you a solo driver? He answered, yes... and I asked, "why?"
He just chuckled... and I left...

He has not been the only male to ask me why I am a solo driver... I hear that all the time...
I understand that females are maybe 15 % of the trucker population in this country but not common for females to be solo drivers...

 

I LOVE to be a solo female OTR driver...

 

Yeah... some males... maybe many males depending where I am, still don't accept well female truck drivers... they think we are in the wrong place, we are not supposed to be doing this job, we are not strong enough, not skilled enough, no prepared enough, don't have the courage, the strength, whatever it takes, etc, etc... They look at me with surprise, some skepticism...
The other day, at the receiver, the guy asked me, "You are not the truck driver, are you?"
And I said, "Yes... And you are not the person I spoke with on the phone, are you?"

So... he decided to unload me right on the street instead of asking me to back from the street into his yard, which was a mess of a construction site... I could have done it... but decided to accept his offer... why not?


And the other day, a guy at the dock came with paperwork for me to sign... didn't know I was the driver... When he saw me, he said, "WOW... never seen a woman truck driver...."
Oh... Really?? He works at a dock, in 2017 and has NEVER seen a female truck driver...?? Now I am surprised....

But hey... I understand that it is going to take yrs for females to be more accepted in this industry and become more common... Even women get surprised when they see I am a truck driver... Some at shippers and receivers call me "sir"... even though they can look at me and see that I am a WOMAN... I even look like a woman... Some apologize for that and say that they are not used to seeing a female truck driver...
So... it happens everywhere... But I do what I like doing and it doesn't matter what they think...

 

Now... what still bothers me sometimes is how people watch me when I am maneuvering the truck and backing it... other truck drivers watch me more than other people in general... and that still bothers me...
I don't think I have a good depth perception... have some difficulty judging distance...
I had 3 female team drivers and 4 male team drivers. I noticed that the females had much more difficulty backing than the males... So, I wonder if this difficulty is common among women...
So... when I get to a truck stop, before backing, I turn the CB off... and I do my backing slowly, ignoring the "watchers" and those in a hurry...

One other thing that bothers me sometimes is those male drivers that speed when they see me approaching them on the road... I wonder if they feel like an insult to their masculinity if a woman passes them on the road... Since I drive a governed truck, I have to be "smart" before I try to pass them... sometimes they like to "play this stupid game"... Will let you almost pass them and then, they will speed and hold the lane to impede you from passing them... Really childish, unprofessional and unsafe... I don't see other female drivers doing the same...

 

I do my job to the best of my ability... don't ask anybody for any help... I chose my job accordingly and I do what I am supposed to do.
Some men have treated me with respect, others with indifference and even rudeness... But that is ok... I have always being a loner in a mostly male environment and have defended myself and took everything in stride...
If you are a woman and plan on being a truck driver, more power to you!
I just wish there were more female drivers out here that would share with each other, and help each other like the males do... but I don't see the same "brotherhood" among women that I see among men...
Most of the female drivers I see passing me or that I pass on the road don't even look at me... WOW...

 

I feel like you mainly speaking about white Volvos from Chicagoland. Don't worry you'll see them in the ditch or in bottom of the cliff, while you sip your coffee and wait for traffic to move. Ohh and yeah, sometimes they come in red color as well

 

My class was made up with 4 females, ranging in different ages and sizes. All graduated in our group of 22. All were trucking well enough.

I don't worry too much about females in the trucking industry with one exception. There are some places you will learn to avoid because if you are too pretty or even more than that to certain men with tendancies and problems and go after you it's a problem.

But that is all I will say about that. I have run with women before including wife in a variety of trucking situations. All of which Im happy to say worked out ok.

You have your life, trucking is pretty nice if you know what you are getting into and that will be a great bright future for you. Just keep in mind there are places around the USA angels do not go.

 

I ran team with a lady friend for five years. She had been driving since the late 1970's. At the time she was one of only two women trucking in Edmonton, AB.
I don't care about gender, I just care that the person can do the job, any job, without any "special" consideration.
My mother worked in a foundary for a short while in the 1950's. Within just a few days she was already out producing the male workers that had been there for years. But of course one of them at the end of a shift basically threatened her for showing them up, so she moved on.
Keep slugging along , some day there will come a time when us men won't notice that you are a women, and only notice a fellow trucker.

 

I have a female friend who runs solo flatbed, and she is an AWESOME driver! Can out work the boys and drive circles around some of us that have been doing this for years.

Seriously, I want to put her into one of my future trucks and sit back to watch the money flow in! She's THAT good! (I'm actually somewhat concerned about trusting my future trucks to other drivers.)

It is true that I also want to trip her and race her to the ground, but that's honestly a whole different conversation altogether.