* Those Wonderful Women TruckersUSA -Ask the Trucker -(Originally published) February 5, 2007: -- Presently, there are about 8 million licensed CDL drivers in the United States. Approximately 4.5 million of these are active truck drivers. Professional truck driving, specifically over the road trucking, has always been noted as a field dominated by men. The rough and tough trucking life could only be handled by a real man . . . well, times are changing!... Women in trucking actually goes back to 1929 when Lillie Elizabeth Drennan became the first women to receive the CDL license. Driving an old Chevrolet, she was a rugged lady who carried a loaded revolver with her on her trucking adventures. Born in 1897, she paved the way for women truckers up to her passing in 1974... Today, there are nearly 170,000 women truckers, making up 5% of all U.S. trucking jobs. By the end of 2007, that number is expected to attain 200,000... What motivates these women to leave the general work place? You will find that independence and the irrepressible challenge of truck driving jobs are the two most common motivations given. Another important reason is the wage-earning aspect. Truck driving averages 20-30% higher wages than jobs’ women usually enter into. Woman in trucking is on such a rise in the United States that it is the cause of such great organizations such as the National and International Women’s Trucking Association. Also, women are taking on more important leading roles such as management, safety, dispatching, sales and recruiting... (Photo from Truth About Trucking)Charleston,West Virginia,USA -Gi Gi Roxx -29 March 2009: -- ... (After a trucking day) ... So I went about my evening, eating a nice meal and then relaxing in my truck. The next morning I woke up and headed to the States. I half expected there to still be some issue with my paperwork and as I approached the border I started getting a little nervous about it. But, once again I was found fortunate in that I was in and out with no hiccups whatsoever... I delivered my load in Iowa the next day. As I was delivering I began receiving my next assignment and promptly made my way to the next destination. I picked up a load bound for North Carolina and headed east. That night I made it to our terminal in Indianapolis for the night. Of course, anytime I have to take a DOT break there I head to the hotel we have a contract with. It's darn near a 4 star hotel (at least in my book) and the price is just right... After a lovely night of catching up on Heroes (online at nbc.com) and sweet comfortable sleep in a queen size bed, I headed back to our terminal and got my day started. I had enough time on my load that I was able to plan a stop at my house for the night and still make on time delivery. So I did just that. I got home in the afternoon and had a wonderful evening dining with my beau and two of our great friends. We enjoyed beer and hot wings and trivia and laughs... The next morning was even better. I don't know how much more lucky I can get... so I'm saying that Saturday morning was the end of the line for now, so as to not jinx myself...* And endingly: Desiree !!!USA -Ask The Trucker (comments) -October 19, 2008: -- Who it's??? ... Hello, My name is Desiree... Entering the trucking industry as a single woman with no background in trucking or prior knowledge of the industry made for many unfortunate missteps... However, I found it AFTER the $4000.00 was paid to a CDL Mill. At that point though I knew it would be up to me alone to question everything on the surface that was being presented to me to make trucking seem like the deperate need for more drivers was partly a scam being perpetuated to get paying students. True, there are plenty of jobs and this is really what I wanted to do so pushing all fluff aside the recruiter tried to feed me, I simply said to myself, “Self, do you really want to be a trucker?” and the answer was “YES!”... Labels: womens in trucking