women in trucking

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This is not a much talked about subject; but, more women are entering the mostly male-dominated field of truck driving. If you are thinking about going to a trucking school, beware of the LIES about "making $40,000/year" your very first year, as you are lucky to make around $350/week starting out. I invested lots of money and time to get my CDL Class A License, only to discover that the only carriers hiring out of trucking schools, are mostly very large, extra high turnover ones, paying around 26 cents a mile, while treating their drivers worse than "terds in a toilet". Then here comes the scary part: Going out with a very hostile, WACKO TRAINER, as 9 out of 10 times, these trainers are beyond mental help. It's a known fact that trainees have been stranded in different states and cities by their harrassing trainers, due to malice from the trainer's end. So if you don't have over 6 mos. OTR experience with ONE CARRIER at a time, then each new trucking company will have you go out with another trainer, as you pray to God he/she is "normal" and not out of a mental institution! O.K., now you get past your Wacko Trainer weeks out there OTR, so start driving solo. You will find that many carriers do not pay Detention Pay, so if sitting at docks for hours, you are not compensated a red cent for this! You lose the next possible load you could have hauled, being detained for a lot longer than planned, as this can result sitting at a truck stop or terminal another few days, lucky to make $25/day in Layover Pay. Again, you are only being paid 20-something cents per mile, which isn't hardly enough to afford you living out there OTR, while trying to pay your bills back home. Yes, it is much harder for women to become truck drivers, as many carriers DO DISCRIMINATE against females, "looking feminine". I find that many of the super large carriers like Swift, Schneider, etc., not only pay poorly; but, treat women worse than men drivers, which is a sad fact. Applicants are even told to "find their own way back home" from Orientations, once carrier don't accept them for hire, which is over 100 miles from home; yet, company gave that same person a bus ticket up there to Orientation. In other words, if you are going to a trucking company's Orientation, you will NOT be reimbursed for your gas money, if they don't hire you; if you were given a bus ticket up there, good luck in finding your own ride back home! Swift is notortious for this, so BEWARE!!! There are male applicants that can't even shift truck from one gear to the next during their Road Test, but are PASSED and HIRED. When the women are not perfect at stick shifting, meaning shifting from one gear to the next, but not "perfect", they are FLUNKED and sent home, UNLESS they try to look and act man-ish. Swift will tell applicants they don't hire, "Well, we didn't hire you on, so you will not be compensated for your gas", OR, "Since we didn't hire you on, you have to find your own way back home." SWIFT will strand you, so don't go to them, unless you enjoy paying for your own bus ticket home, OR, wish to pay the high cost of gas driving over 100 miles one-way to arrive at their Orientation! Good luck in finding a local truck driving job, even driving a small straight truck! Local companies will NOT even look at or hire an applicant, until he/she has over 1-2 years OTR experience in, IF that same person can AFFORD living OTR for next to nothing a year or more! Me and many others are told by local companies, when we have a few months OTR experience, "Come back when you get another year or two of experience, THEN we will hire you.", since our insurance premiums are too high to hire anyone before that time. The best candidate to start driving OTR, when having only a few months OTR, OR, just graduating from a trucking school: One that gives up his/her home (apartment, house, etc.) and lives solely out of his/her truck for at least 1-2 years 24/7! You won't even be able to afford vechicle payments while OTR, so you have to decide to make your truck "your shelter" in order to afford living on very measley mileage pay OTR. Then there's carriers that will cheat you out of reimbursing you for scaling your loads; paying tolls upfront; etc., as each load costs around $9.00 to scale, while you are stuck paying at least $9.00/shower, if you didn't incur "FREE SHOWER POINTS" fueling up at least $60 worth of gas. If you are sitting there for a few days at a truck stop waiting on the next load, not only do you hardly get paid anything; but, you are going to either take "sink baths" or pay $9/day for shower, since you are not going to fuel your truck up every day sitting there! The ONLY truck drivers that make good money, are ones with over 2 years OTR experience, where they can go to much better-paying trucking companies; whereas, someone with less than 1-2 years OTR experience, don't have these options. Think twice before paying your hard-earned money to attend trucking school and get your Class A CDL License, as this same money you spent could pay your rent or mortgage the entire year! Training pay is very low, too, as majority of carriers hiring students pay $250-$350/week for being out with a nutty trainer for a few weeks at a time. As for being an owner-operator, many truckers doing this are "going into the hole" financially, as very high gas costs; road and fuel taxes for each state; any repairs; etc., will eat up that $1 or more per mile faster than you can imagine, leaving you with hardly a profit to gain. Some owner-operators do great, but only ones with steady, dedicated accounts they worked very hard for over the years; even then, a busted tire, etc., can wipe out their high earnings they made driving during that week! I am telling you the Real Trucking Truth, so for those of you, thinking about spending over $3,500 for trucking school can re-evaluate whether the high cost of getting your CDL Class A is worth it, since you will spend the first 1-2 years OTR "in the Poor House", which is none other than your truck! Happy Holidays!