What's it like to Be a Woman Truck Driver

Women have always been truck drivers. In fact, women as freight haulers pre-date the age of the eighteen wheeler: Calamity Jane, of American historical lore, was a teamster for the Army. Lillie Drennan is the first woman recorded as having been given a truck driving license in 1929 to haul oil field equipment, explosives and soft drinks at the company she owned in Texas. Both Calamity and Lillie were colorful and rough-spoken women with an ethic of hard work and a need to prove they could do the job as well as any man.

Throughout the history of American road transportation, women have driven trucks, although usually with a male partner and usually as owner-operators. Until the early 1990's, power steering was a rarity and it took a strong woman to handle a rig at slower speeds. However, about the same time power steering became popular, more women sought trucking jobs as it afforded a chance at better wages than the traditional jobs usually available to women. At first, there was much discrimination in the industry: truck owners assumed women would be too weak, tire too quickly and be unable to handle the rough living conditions existent on the road. Affirmative action, however, forced carriers to open the field to women even though reluctantly. Now, many carriers actively seek out female drivers as they feel they are safer and more reliable.

In the early days of my career, there were few accommodations for women drivers. Showers were often placed in men's locker rooms and bathrooms. As I often teamed up to run with a man for safety, I could usually have a trusted man run interference at the door. If not, I might have to forego the shower and be content with alcohol wipes til I got somewhere with better accommodations. I usually found men singly to be of great help, although some turned into mis-behaving adolescents in a group. As I didn't start driving til I was in my forties, after my children were grown, I didn't have much problem knowing how to deal with adolescent, rude behavior.