Women in Trucking

In years past women never drove big rigs or had worked in the trucking industry. This was considered strictly a man’s industry. Women finally seriously entered in the trucking industry in 1960, where they were faced with the resistance of their male counterparts.
History does show that back in 1929 Lillie Elizabeth McGee Drennen got her commercial truck driving license and later became the sole owner of Drennen Truck Lines. According to www.ladytruckdrivers.com she was the first woman truck driver and the first woman to own a trucking company.
Back in the 60’s when the women of our nation who were serious about driving truck to later follow in Lillie Elizabeth McGee Drennen’s footsteps were taught by their fathers, brothers or male neighbors. There were no truck driver schools as there is today to teach drivers how to drive semi tractor trailers.
Back in the 60’s women had to deal with lack of facilities to take a shower, lack of respect for them being on the road, etc.
Society used to say that “Ladies have no business in a truck and aren’t made for the work. The Job is to rough and stressful on a woman and that she is better off at home.”
Those words flow from the mouths of those who are serious in their belief that the road is no place for a woman. The People who think this way was most likely taught to think this way from very young.
Women since 1960 have not only proved that they have the ability to handle big rigs, but they have earned their place on the road with male drivers. For those women in trucking, they have their own unique set of concerns. These concerns are that they are still mothers, wives, house keepers when they are home, cooks, home care professionals who still have their womanly duties when they are home, they have a unique set of dynamics in the home, as soon as they come home for time off the road.
Women in trucking also have other concerns but these concerns are when they are on the road such as safety, working conditions, pay and home time which are just a few concerns facing all drivers both male and female. Women are no more or no less than their male counterparts in an industry that used to belong to the male gender only.
There are the same responsibilities that both women drivers and male drivers both face out on the roads. The responsibility of watching out for sexual harassment in the work place, at truck stops, on the road just to name a few. Because of these safety issues, some women prefer to team with their friends, family members, spouses or male co workers to feel safer while being on out on the road.
Women share the same frustrations and hardships provided by the lifestyle on the road in a forty ton peace of steel as do their male counterparts.
All truck drivers deal with the dangers of the road and the pressures of relating with customers, fellow workers and trucking dispatchers. Its even more frustrating is when downgrading is also a factor due to gender problems comes into this industry which makes it harder on a woman to be out there.
Women truck drivers also do the same job as their male counterparts. They still have to dolly down the trailers, back up the trucks to the dock, drive according to DOT regulations etc. There is no special treatment for any women in this industry.
National Statistics show that nearly 200,000 women are truck drivers or work in the trucking industry across the USA. More and more women are choosing this industry every year. Some of the reasons why women are choosing this type of career may be the freedom of the open road, flexible schedules, pay increases from normal jobs etc