Ellen Voie answers Questions about CRST Sexual Harassment case Part II
The first part of the Q & A between Ellen Voie and Heather Rose was SHOCKING, to say the least! 64 responses and counting in less than 24 hours and more Revelations than….well almost as many as REVELATIONS!
That was for just 7 questions and there are 32 in total so Dag Gum It! Let’s see if we can hammer this mess out!
We sincerely appreciate Ellen Voie & Marge Bailey of “Women in Trucking” contributing and listening to what is being presented here. So far we have learned from Director Marge Bailey that “Women in Trucking” IS NOT A WOMEN’S DRIVER ADVOCACY ORGANIZATION. That means they should not make commentary or be asked to give expert opinions on cases and policies that affect Women Truckers as though they are the voice from Women Truckers.
Former CRST Truckers posted comments and I know a few are waiting in the wings. One Woman Trucker took the time to write her painful story that she has kept carefully tucked away but felt compelled to share it when she saw how dismissive the atmosphere was towards the CRST plaintiffs. I want to thank “Randy” for sharing links to the case so the Marge & Ellen can have the opportunity to learn more from another point of view instead of just what they have learned from CRST.
It has been helpful to clarify that the word “Obstacle” in the “Women in Trucking” Mission Statement means more of ergonomically adjusting trucking for Women. This may be a priority for “Women in Trucking” from an Industry Standpoint. This interpretation of the word “Obstacle” is considerably different from what REAL Women in Trucking would like to see higher on the priority list.
It is very important to remember that you will learn nothing if everyone always agrees with you. Always permit yourself access to those who might disagree with your opinions to help you view each problem from another angle. Otherwise you are cheating yourself of a valuable experience to grown and learn.
The Q & A between Heather Rose & Ellen Voie of “Women in Trucking”:
Part II
8. Do you agree with the ATA and its constituents (employers of truck drivers) that driving an 80,000 lb. tractor-trailer is unskilled labor and if so why?
Ellen: No, I believe it should be classified as skilled labor.
9. Do you feel that having written a book about your experiences with a tractor-trailer driving school which you attended, qualifies you as an authority on the conditions women face in OTR driver training situations? (Admin **for our Non-trucking friends OTR means “Over the Road” where drivers stay gone for weeks of months at a time, sometimes living year round in a truck to deliver freight)
Ellen: Not at all, I have never said that my experience at truck driving school qualifies me for anything other than understanding what it is like to attend driver training academy. The book is called “What to expect when attending truck driving school.” (Admin*** Link to Press Release of Ellen’s Book “Crushing Cones“
10. Would you support an industry wide standardized driver training curriculum?
Ellen: Yes, I support PTDI training standards and was trained within these guidelines. In my book I explain to potential drivers how to choose a school so that they don’t get scammed and not trained appropriately.
11. Do you, your organization, or anyone on your board, profit from the recruitment of women into driver training programs?
Ellen: NO, there is no financial incentive to recruit women drivers into any program or carrier. One board member owns a driver recruiting service where she earns a living but this is unrelated to Women In Trucking. (Admin*** www.ladytruckdrivers.com is owned by WIT Director Marge Bailey who is a recruiter and also owns www.truckercupid.com and has been answering many of the questions in Part 1 of this series.)
12. What kind of message do you believe it sends, to have a link to a dating site for women interested in dating truck drivers, which is run by a Director of WIT and also advocates the recruitment of women into the trucking industry?
Ellen: I am not aware of Women In Trucking linking or supporting a trucker dating site, please send me the reference. As far as a director having a recruiting site, it is only one of many recruiting sites that are members of the association. Feel free to contact Marge Bailey to discuss your concerns. Our board members are volunteers who represent various companies. (Admin *** Marge Bailey was contacted. She agreed that including a disclaimer on her Twitter feed @TruckerCupid would help eliminate misinterpretation)
13. As an advocate for women in trucking, have you ever taken it upon yourself, beyond what you may have been told at a corporate management level, to investigate the training culture of the industry that you and your organization advocate recruiting women into?
Ellen: Yes, that is why I went through driver training at Tri-C. I wanted to experience it myself. Also, I worked at the driver training facility at Schneider National where my role was driver retention. I worked with drivers at numerous Schneider facilities during my role there and I spent countless hours talking to drivers. I also work with NAPFTDS and CVTA to ensure that driver training facilities are legitimate and adequate. Next week I am speaking at NAPFTDS’ conference to educate the school executives on how to accommodate the driver and his or her family’s needs. If you are concerned that there are driver mills out there, so am I. They need to be closed. However, if potential drivers do not do their due diligence and investigate a potential school, these facilities will continue to exist. We all want them to shut down. We need to reach potential drivers before they sign a contract.
14. Are you aware of the amount of money that “corporate driver training mills” are receiving from the government to provide training, under the premise of job creation?
Ellen: Yes, it is due to the government’s goal to create jobs. I am aware of it. Whether I agree with it or not is another issue.
15. Are you aware that the Mega-corporations, who offer entry level training, are using trainees as low paid labor in team driver operations?
Ellen: Please elaborate on the carriers who do this and how they are forcing drivers to work for them.
16. Are you aware of and can you explain, the extremely high rate of turnover in these “driver training mills” where most students do not finish training or having completed training, do not continue to pursue employment within the trucking industry?
Ellen: We work hard to reach out to potential drivers and help them choose legitimate training opportunities so that they receive adequate training. That is an important part of our mission.
17. Colleen Morse, the Mother of the child from the “Trucker Buddy’ incident stated on a website called fairness.com that you responded to her that she was “over-reacting to the e-mails”? Have you had any training to work with trauma victims?
Ellen: I am not qualified to work with trauma victims. Colleen Morse did not have a child in the Trucker Buddy program, she was never involved in the Trucker Buddy program and I have never spoken to her. She claimed in an email that one of the Trucker Buddy drivers acted inappropriately with her son, but she was not in the program and she violated every policy that Trucker Buddy had in place to ensure the safety of the children. However, based on her allegations I contacted the driver and immediately removed him from the program. You can verify that with the driver or any Trucker Buddy executive. I suggest you do so. (Admin*** Click Link to See Comments by Colleen Morse )
22. In your recent article in Transport Topics Online you seemed to back track on your “Eye on Harassment” what changed?
Ellen: Please explain what you are asking me in regard to the article. It was about leadership.
23. You have impression in the recent Transport Topics Article that some women are perpetual victims. Are you aware that many women are coming from domestic violence and/or broken marriages, some having barely escaped with their lives, might take offense at that statement?
Ellen: The article wasn’t about women who ARE victims and it was not about drivers. It specifically states that this is about women leaders who take the victim role instead of trying to move forward into leadership positions. Here is the paragraph I believe you are referring to.
“Often, the resistance women leaders’ encounter is from those who see themselves as victims – not just men, but other women as well. They feel “picked on” by co-workers, the boss or the entire company, and instead of viewing the situation as a challenge, they blame others and refuse to accept any responsibility. Feeling powerless, they try to build themselves up by tearing down those whose positive vision they envy.”
Heather, this is not about blaming people who are, in reality, victims, and it is not about the driver population. It is about allowing others to keep from succeeding because we won’t accept the challenges ourselves. What I find interesting about this article is that so many executives sent me messages about how they could relate to the article because they had to move beyond those who want to tear them down and bring them to their level. If you go back and read the entire article about leading from a position of strength, it should be clearer. It was not intended to disregard real victims of any harassment, this is about “those who see themselves as victims and blame others instead of accepting responsibility for their situation.” The article was directed at senior level management and not about drivers. That’s why it appeared in Transport Topics, which is not a driver publication. (Admin*** Transport Topics Online Article )
24. Have you consulted with law firms and/or a private investigator such as www.compassllc.org with the intent of investigating the backgrounds of those who may voice questions concerning the motives and methods used by yourself, your organization or those involved in its day to day operation?
Ellen: No. I had lunch with some friends who were concerned about the character attacks on me and one, a private investigator, took it upon himself to do some research into public records. I never hired anyone or asked anyone to investigate anyone. I did not use the information he found in public records.
25. In the “Bully in the Workplace” Video you seem to cast aspersions on the moral constitution of women who claim to have been abused by their trainers, labeling them as gold diggers, have you personally spoken with any of the women involved with the CRST case?
Ellen: I would appreciate having a conversation with a sexual harassment victim from the CRST case. Please have them contact me. I have never labeled them as gold diggers, ever. Heather, you need to get the whole story here and ask these women how they were contacted and by whom. If you can find someone to give me their story, I would truly appreciate it.
26. Are you aware that your postings on Twitter, concerning the dismissal of the CRST sexual harassment law suit, due to gross mishandling on the part of the EEOC, appears to some, as gloating?
Ellen: No. (Admin*** @WomeninTrucking Twitter Stream Feb 13th www.twitter.com/womenintrucking )
27. Are you aware of any appeals that have been filed or any settlements that have been agreed upon, in the CRST Sexual Harassment case?
Ellen: Yes.
28. Why, if advised by legal counsel, not to appear on radio programs discussing Workplace Bullying, did you felt free to comment on the CRST Sexual Harassment Law Suit?
Ellen: First, I have never been advised by any legal council to not appear on a radio program. What you are referring to is when I told Donna Smith that I was not ready to participate in the radio show because I was working on anti-harassment policies with EEOC and legal counsel and was not prepared to discuss the process in public.
29. YRC, Ohio Pitt, CRST all have recent EEOC claims against them but are coincidently linked to WIT. Are you aware that it appears your organization is merely to ease the impact of litigation not to help Women overcome obstacles in the trucking industry as your mission statement indicates?
Ellen: First, there were no individual claims against YRC. http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/3-5-09.cfm This was a compliance effort and the EEOC included Women In Trucking in the compliance activities before we were even aware of the action. There was NO complaint from a driver involved in this compliance, it was an action agreed upon by both groups to reach mutual goals. This was a positive action, Heather, and I have talked to both the EEOC and YRC about the process. Again, this did not involve any driver.
Second, the Pitt Ohio case was initiated from events that started in 1997, which is 13 years ago. They have been working hard to change their practices and we are part of that effort. Is this not a positive action to create change on their part?
The CRST case has been won in court twice. Again, Heather, do you know of any women involved in this action that I can speak with? Are you aware of the activities involved in this case? I would like to speak to a driver who was a victim. Do you believe that CRST has the freedom to join an association whose mission they support?
(Admin*** I know there is much bad blood and feelings involved but please try to refrain from name-calling. I know it is hard because this should have never been permitted to go as far as it has. Everyone has a right to their opinion as long a physical threats of violence are not made. Make sure you have documentation before you make allegations also. Finally, do not waste time trying to go back to advise a victim how he/she should respond when you yourself have never been in the identical situation and cannot change what trauma that person is experiencing, you are only kicking them when they are down & that is why SILENCE is a Predators best friend. When you do this to a victim you are helping predators thrive.)
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I don’t have a bunch of time today because I have to take a class but with regards to question #24 please read my response:
Following the final blow out on WIT, I stated for a final time it was my intent to publicize what was occurring on the “Women in Trucking” forum because of the incredible confusion being created for new females entering the trucking industry.
At that time, my student trucker story was about half way finished. By that I mean, I was not finished writing it but I was already in another fleet where I also helped other Female students make the transition. We are all still on this fleet and quite happy. Poor but happy.
I had been communicating to Ellen privately and she was aware that WIT members had set up twitter accounts and posted on other blogs making remarks that WOULD NOT indicate a unified Woman’s trucking organization. Ellen chose to do nothing and the Cyber-Stalking continued.
In a phone conversation following that last blowout, I was asked by Char Pingel who I worked for and I told her the name Covenant Transport. The following day I was routed to my home terminal in Chattanooga Tennessee.
This was the day, Actor Max Gail called both my VP of Operations, who has since resigned & “Women in Trucking” to let them understand that there were many others observing the conduct that had been occurring.
I touch on this in the Article “Who is Trucker Desiree? “Which an Old Post is by was recently “Revived” by some very strange coincidence.
http://www.askthetrucker.com/trucker-desiree-update-who-is-trucker-desiree/
When I arrived at my terminal, I was asked to complete a HR Complaint. In all the trials and tribulations I had during my Student Trucker Story I had never been given such a form. It had a tracking number on it.
I was advised I had “Freedom of Speech” but that a call was received from someone who would like to litigate with me for speaking out. Whoever called was able to reach much higher than the VP of Operations who I was speaking with and who Max Gail spoke to.
When I met Ellen Voie for the first time she blurted out “Desiree, No one called your company”, I thought that was odd because I did not ask her about that. I told her someone did call though but that it was of no consequence.
Still, I felt it was odd that she felt compelled to say that and knowing how hard it is to reach the person at the top, even for Dan Rather Producers was curious.
If you will all remember, following the Dan Rather “Queen of the Road” broadcast, “The Trucker” News paper was quick to say I was not credible according to the ATA & my membership to WIT was revoked by Ellen Voie.
I wrote the Editor of The Trucker, Lyndon Finney right away and that post is on my blog “TruckerDesiree”
http://truckerdesiree.com/2009/10/25/my-response-to-the-trucker-com-dan-rather-trucking-video/
When I was in Dallas Texas for the “Great American Truck Show” I was filmed by the Dan Rather Producers and Beverley Petersen for the upcoming documentary for workplace bullying. The link for those sound bytes is above where it says “There Oughta be a Law”.
I introduced Beverly Petersen to Ellen Voie and this was no ambush. Ellen agreed to not only do an interview but scheduled for a second meeting with Beverly.
Ellen Voie attempted to discredit me to Beverly Petersen.
I have never worked for Ellen Voie so how could she possibly know whether I was credible?
My own company and CDL School did not attempt to discredit me so why did Ellen Voie?
On January 18, 2010 at 9:18PM EST I received a phone call on my San Diego cell phone from a Wisconsin phone number.
The voice on the other end called me Ellen. This is what he said:
“Hello, Ellen? This is David from lunch today in Iola, (Wisconsin) Do you remember me?”
I said “No, I don’t” , he continued in a surprised tone and repeated that he was David and that we had lunch together.
After 3 attempts he said he had a bad connection and would call me back. He did not.
“David” did not block his Wisconsin number; he is a Private Investigator with a Law Enforcement background. Here is his website http://www.compassllc.org/ .
David Hipschman is not an “Old Friend” of Ellen Voie’s; he has never met her before she contacted him to look into Public Records about me so that she could potentially sue me for Libel/Slander/Harassment
I spoke to David a few days ago and he confirmed this to me & verified that he did indeed call my San Diego cell phone in error and he apologized.
I told him I did not believe it was an error because in this incredible journey I have been on there have been too many unexplainable things have happened to me and that is why I cannot ignore them. I have to go with it.
I told Ellen when I was last on the phone with her and many who have been on this journey with me on Twitter, I simply fought back and now the Cyber-Gang Stalkers and Bully’s claim to be victims.
I spoke to David on the phone for a few moments and assured him I do indeed have all the screen shots of deleted threads, emails and so forth should Ellen Voie want to pursue legal actions against me for speaking out.
I agreed to forward him these posts so he can be made aware of my statement and I told him to keep my number if he has any questions he would like clarified.
Desiree
TruckerDesiree´s last blog ..“Sam” from my Story, R.I.P. “Cujo”
Looks to me like Ellen is getting caught with her pants down. Typical negative political move, seek to destroy your opponents. Ellen, a true leader leads by serving others as an advocate for victims, but you actually judge victims for being victims.
Marge is on your board and profits from recruiting women into an industry whose abuses against women go unnoticed by you? Marge also sets women up in dangerous situations with her Twitter trucker cupid and you condone this? Dirty politics Ellen, conflict of interests.
[...] Ellen Voie answers Questions about CRST Sexual Harassment case … [...]
Ayah, you have no clue as to how I run Truckercupid.com. Therefore how can you make such a claim?
I run it the same way DriverMatch.com is run (I don’t run background checks unless requested to), maybe even a little more of a hands on approach than he does. He is an O/O that works for CRST, which you all say is the big bad wolf, yet you all support him. Why am I denigrated and he is not?? I don’t work for CRST and certainly do not match up drivers, they match themselves and 99% of them are expereinced drivers 35 years old and older. The drivers, male & female call me the Den Mom. Ask any one of the 2600+ members who have been on my service why they call me that.
Here’s a clue for you Marge; DRIVER MATCH versus TRUCKER CUPID
Here’s your latest post; “Welcome Dale #2620 of IN. Dale is an OTR driver, he’s 47 yrs old ISO his soulmate. He wants to start out as friends & see where it goes.”
You are profiting off putting women in danger who may be trusting these guys thinking you HAVE checked them out. This is indefensible so please don’t bother trying.
How cruel of you Ayah! You don’t think drivers need a service that only those in trucking are allowed to be members so they, both genders, can meet someone who can be compatible because they each understand and accept their job’s lifestyle! TC (http://truckercupid.com) is one of only 2 online services (http://drivermatch.com) that personally pre-screens candidates for membership. I go as far as to councel with matches before and after they find a match on their own. The average age of my members is 35 to 60, not young’uns and not novices. Would you work for practically nothing to do what drivers asked you to do, taking over a year to talk you into it? I bet not! This in itself is a full time job. Add that to my other full time job plus trying to keep up with answering questions on this forum, well, let’s put it this way, my plate is full to overflowing.
If I do make a profit someday with this service no one would begrudge me for it! Please call me and make these absurd statements to my face. 989.892.8433 Bring it!
Although you appear quite brave and willing to put me in my place, I have nothing to say to you over the phone that I have not already stated here.
Just dealing with the facts, this is not personal.
This is how Marge exploits lonely drivers;
It’s not expensive to JOIN! Our Fee Schedule is below:
30 days: $25
60 days: $45
90 days: $40
http://www.truckercupid.com/
Marge you seriously do not understand why you come under conviction for this? You have the gall to compare yourself to the new professional http://www.drivermatch.com ?
Ayah, Do you work for driver match?? sounds like you do.. My name is Angie and I have nothing but praise for Truckercupid.com. You apparently know nothing about truckercupid. Let me tell you a story. When i found truckercupid.com Marge personally called me to make sure i was for REAL>>.. Her website is the most ligit and safest website i have ever seen.. ANYWHERE… You see i am greatful to truckercupid i met the man of my dreams there…We met because we were honest with whom we were looking for to spend the rest of our lifes with… We met on Feb 9th 08 and have been together every since running team…. i would have never met him since i was from the west coast and he was from the midwest… we got married May 23rd 09. Thanks to truckercupid and Marge for this connection. If you were on truckcupid and had a bad experiene then maybe it was because you did not follow Marges safe guide lines… Ayah im not here to start a fight with you .. but my opinion is just as important as yours. I love truckercupid and have had a few of my lady driver friends also meet there perfect match.. so please do slam Marge and truckercupid.com if you have never been in our shoes… have a great day….
She charges money but does not do background checks by her own admission. Cruel Marge? Without criminal background checks you could be setting someone up on a date with disaster. No angie I do not work for http://www.drivermatch.com but I have enough discernment to know the difference between someone working to better the lives of drivers and someone earning money off them.
Glad you got lucky angie.
this is from drivermatch.com under terms….
WE DO NOT SCREEN ALL POSTINGS AND HAVE NO WAY OF INDEPENDENTLY VERIFYING THE INFORMATION GIVEN TO US BY A USER OR POSTED ON THIS SITE. USERS SHOULD ALWAYS BE CAUTIOUS ABOUT GIVING PERSONAL INFORMATION TO STRANGERS OR POSTING IT IN A PUBLIC PLACE WHERE SUCH ACTIONS MIGHT BE USED TO HARM, HARASS OR BE USED AGAINST THEM.
they r NOT FREE
Basic membership is FREE! As a basic member you can add a profile, search for co-drivers and send DriverMail messages. In order to read messages received from other members, upgrade to Choice Member. In addition, to view driver profiles in detail, you must upgrade to Choice Member. Choice Membership are as follows: $1.99 for our 3 day trial, $9.99 for 30 days, $19.99 for 60 days, $29.99 for 120 days, and $39.99 for 360 days. Transactions are processed with Google Checkout
please check out there terms yourself… Marge does not profit for us….. she gives us a service just like drivermatch, eharmory and so on… nothing is free… come on read the terms…. at least marge will call and control her contents of her website. truckercupid.com is a totally different kind of website… compare the terms of service and compare for yourself….
Ayah R U a driver currently??? have a great night
Angie, Marge is the one making a comparison between the two. The BIG difference is she is targeting to connect WOMEN with MEN. Driver Match was started as a much needed bulletin board exactly like my husband wished were available when he was at CRST. CRST gives you a list of about 5 phone numbers of other drivers too connect with and most of them are not even ready to go OTR. I don’t even know who started Driver Match nor have I visited the site yet! I do know there was a need and someone filled it with a free option to HELP drivers.
Women are vulnerable in a truck alone with a stranger. It can be dangerous or even fatal. Trucker cupid is a dating service that is not providing criminal or credit background checks thus creating a danger zone for trusting women. Right?
CRST training and co-driver practices are the same. Only when faced with possible legal consequence do they act.
I challenge the WIT to meet with me anytime. I can tell you nothing has changed with CRST Nothing! Hopefully an ex CRST women driver and myself can in a small way help stop CRST from their acts of tricking, scheming, malicious, heartless practices. We have filed with the EEOC.
I spent 34 years in the construction industry worked in a predominantly male industry all of my adult life never have I ever seen such lies, deceitfulness, greed, heartlessness and so much more. Words can’t describe this industry.
Unfortunately I see no significant changes in the near future for all of the hard working truck drivers.
I have to agree with you about the industry. I personally have seen changes in this mostly male industry but there are still alot of BAD apples in the industry male and female. But at least WIT and woman in trucking are trying to do something… so is OOIDA.. this problem is just like the rest of the industry these days.. look at FMCSA and CARBS and everyone else that is trying to literally put the trucker out of work… we have to pull together not pull apart and talk crap about each other.. we should be pulling together not knocking those that are at least trying to stand up and make a differnce maybe we all should be giving WIT and the others advice or our opionions not cussing and calling them names and so on… dont u think… have a great night.
Dear Angie:
Driver Match is a team driving site. It IS NOT in anyway shape or form intended to be a hook up site.
Disclaimers & Clarity are nessesary because of the confusion created by such sites as Trucker Cupid which IS a Dating Site & linked to a Lady Driver recruitmeent site.
Being that WIT encourages Women to enter the trucking industry & a chief complaint is that many females who attempt to become truckers are merely husband hunting, there is a “Guilty until proven Innocent” training environment with a few bad apples manipulating situations to their advantage.
This poor definition to newcomer females is a detriment to serious student who simply wish to learn to drive safely.
WIT has been entirely to vague & the dating/recruiting is no helping.
Drivermatch is an entirely different mission.
I talked to Marrge & I truly like her.
There are a lot of naive women being encouraged to become truckers.
There is a trend occuring that is highly irresponsible & we want to clarify.
If a Woman only wants a hubby, go to Trucker Cupid.
If you are looking for a Safe Training experience, it is not reccommeded you do both at the same time.
The WIT endorsement is further misleading to a newcomer & gives impression that a job & husband are a few clicks away.
If it dosent work out what situation will that student be in?
Taken seriously again? Truck hopper?
Driver Match has rejected Women in the past couple days because they were looking for “other” things besides effective co-driver search tools
Thank you for taking the time to Reply. But you make woman sound stupid. If a woman wants to become a truck driver then so be it and she should takes it very seriously. This industry is mainly a mans and we know how men and some woman think. lets not be silly. Blaming WIT or a website for poor judgement is also silly. Again there is NO WOMEN OR MAN OUT HERE STUDENT OR PROFESSIONAL that have to take and kind of harassment or abuse from anyone….If he or she thinks they are in a bad situation get out of it…thats all im saying. driverdirect is doing on thing and truckercupid gives you the choice to do both. Its up to the indiviual to decide what they are looking for and if they are looking for a team only with nothing else that should be brought up in the beginning before even getting in a truck. You should know as well as i do when you spend 4 to 6 weeks in a truck together things can get out of hand very quickly and conversations tend to go in all directions. Everyone needs to know there bounderies right off. I agree with you a hubby is not a few clicks away and truckercupid does not say that it is an instant hook up website. This website is intented for serious honest drivers looking also for a life partner with someone that knows the industry, and if they r looking for a team partnership then thing again have to be discussed before entering the truck. You know as well as i do that having a partner or even a friend that is a truck is a difficult task if you do not know the industry. But saying there are nieve ladies who want to be truckers should seriously talk to woman drivers. Going thru a company there r woman drivers to talk to about this industry. I personally feel that woman coming into this industry should not be looking for a co driver in the beginning on ANY website. there are preditors out there male and female. So ladies be safe and talk with other woman drivers. Thanks again for your replay have a safe day.
Thank you for your Comment about Marge she is a very special lady in this industry. Ladies getting all excited and call her names personally is a very mean thing to do. Just because we are truckers we dont have to act like a man and talk like that. remember ladies we are setting an example out here and we dont need to talk like truckers or act like on. We have a hard task out here just being out here we have to work harder at the same job to get the same respect that is the truth that will never ever change. So new drivers welcome but it is not a bed of roses out here where you will make a lot of money… good luck.. be a safe
Ayah, Marge is not making a comparison with the two. She gives you a choice she does not say if you run team you have to sleep with or put up with any kind of harassment from anyone,or if you do decide that you want to find an parnter to take any kind of harassment either. You have to have boundries and know what you are looking for and be honest. I believe alot of female new to this industry think that finding a companion or friend is a good way to learn and i also think it is to but that is my opionion. There is alot of danger our here on the road for male and female drivers. But personal attacks are not needed. When you sign up for truckercupid Marge will call you and personally talk to you about this website drivermatch does not… Also drivermatch does not do back ground checks or criminal checks unless the trainer is doing it themselves i saw no where on there sight they took any kind of reponsibliity for any acts harm or actions done by drivers on there website. Again there is no mention of back ground checks. If you are going to go trucking with someone take the time and the responsiblity to do your own checks thats what i did. This is my life i would not trust anyone a recuited or a website to find me a team partner with out doing one on my own 1st. this is your life.. take it seriously.. thanks for the reply but r u a driver?? im just curious.
Dear Angie:
You are an experienced driver & may not realize that currently students drivers must do team driving as part of their training segment.
For single Women this is a huge obstacle because it is very difficult to find a suitable co-driver but there are MANY men more than willing to “Train a Newbie”
I am not sure if you are on Twitter but Ayah is & so am I.
Several tweets from @TruckerCupid are about experienced male drivers looking for love & willing to take a new female student.
I spoke to Marge about this last week & she has begun to Tweet a disclaimer. I throughly enjoy speaking to Marge, she is quite animated & extremely warm.
Many New Females who are being recruited to Trucking have Zero Knowledge of this “Lifestyle” .
WIT Director Marge Bailey is a Recruiter & has a Date a Trucker site & goes on Satelitte Radio regularly with Ellen Voie to encourage more Women to join the trucking industry & join WIT.
This creates a less than serious image of trucking to entering females who may be recently divorced, from a domestic situation who might not understand this is the WRONG foot to begin your trucking carreer.
Ayah had a dream to be a Trucker but an convincing Nice Man who offered to train her ended that dream for her.
She now has an illness that prevents her from becoming a Trucker but her Husband drives & he has experienced treatment that is also very unprofessional.
We are seeking solutions to misconduct.
Retaliation inside government funded training companies is a huge problem we wish to solve.
WIT sponsors should most certainly be held to a higher standard. Government Funded Training Companies should as well.
Drivermatch is including a background check feature & happily changed their ads because they understood that female safe training & co driving is the utmost importance. I have grilled this guy endlessly & I do not let MY name on anything UNLESS they understand I MEAN BUSINESS! I want clarity so people can learn to drive the truck & get the experience they need.
Desiree,
I am sorry that Ayah had such a bad experience, THAT is not the experience every woman has fortunately. I appreciate Angie’s attempt to set the record straight about TruckerCupid.com. If I were to out this out to all my members this board would be so flooded with my supporters it might overload the server so I won’t do that. I am going to explain step by step how my service works. After this I won’t be posting here anymore. It’s taking far too much of my time and the job I do for truckers is far more important to spend time on. There are so very many out of work and so few people to help them that I feel I must not let them down. I have an open line of communication to drivers before and after they are back in a truck earning money again to feed their families and pay their bills that have piled up since they lost their job, some have not worked for over a year!
Here I will explain the TruckerCupid.com process.
I started the service at the request of several hundred men and women drivers. It took them a year to talk me into it. Finally I created it and had it up and running March 1, 2007.
I had no idea about how it would go. I had never used a dating service so it was all new to me. I got educated real fast! I had to do a lot of research.
I knew since there are only about 3.5% of women drivers who are single and probably less than that who would be looking to team and/or looking for their soul mate, our membership might not ever be large in number. I never dreamed 3 years later we would be close to having had 3,000 members join.
Currently there are 34 active men and 101 active women. We’ve had 8 marriages I am aware of, approximately 100 teams successfully matched up and still together. Not everyone reports back to me when they’ve made a match so I cannot give exact numbers. You may think, wow! there are so few that have found matches. That’s right, there are not a ton of matches. #1 it’s not easy to get a membership, and #2 I have a rigorous requirement standards each person has to meet before they are allowed to join, so that in itself will keep the number of successful matches smaller than will other services who are not so strict.
For the first 6 months the service was totally free. When I say totally free I mean it. No hidden fees. I felt since while it was in its infancy it would not be fair to charge anyone.
After 6 months of having to keep 100+ predators off the service I saw that charging a fee for at least the males, would help keep predators off the service and maybe save me 5 or 6 hours a day of having to out up with people who are not allowed on the service from even applying. It did help to charge a small fee and the men were ok with that. I tried charging women a small fee but without success so women (for about 18 months) were accepted after getting my personal approval just as the men have to be personally approved, got a free Premium membership. This worked out ok for a while.
I had to invest quite a lot of money into development of the site and of course pay for all the changes that needed to be made afterward that are part of the growing process that I am still in the hole at the tune of about $3000.00.
As time went on, I found that men were staying on the free wink membership far too long. That hampers people from getting a match because unless you can actually trade contact information, a member will not ever meet anyone. You see my members have to be premium level, just like DriverMatch.com, (he calls his a different name for Premium level) before they can trade contact information. I knew I would have to go to all premium level in order to see more people be able to find a co-driver and/or soulmate match.
Starting in Oct of 2009 I posted a huge message in everyone’s membership account that Jan 09, 2010, free memberships would no longer be available and I explained why. I also posted that the women who got in on the first 2 year’s Premium free level would retain their free memberships as promised but however new female members after that date would have to pay a fee. I felt a notice that far ahead was more than fair.
As of Feb 1st, the service became all pre-paid. At that time we had fell to only 25 male members and had 109 female members who were active. The female members were still on the free status.
As of today 34 males and ONE female have paid a small fee to be premium members. If I had the available funds to advertise the service there would probably be more.
I don’t advertise for 2 reasons. (1) The main reason is I am a staff of one person. Since I personally talk to each person who requests a membership, time just does not allow for me to take on more than I already get in requests. (2) Advertising (I tried once with the Trucker News, and hardly ever got any from that so I stopped it)could bring in more predators attempting to join. No thanks, I have enough of those already who I must waste time on rejecting. So people find the site by word of mouth, surfing the Internet, seeing my interview on The Travel Channel or from hearing me on SiriusXM on or right before Valentine’s Day once per year. Sparse public exposure works out well keeping the down the number of predators who try to join. I end up with 99% serious people who ARE in the industry already or were.
You can view here on this page our my terms of service which explains what I consider a predator: http://www.truckercupid.com/tos.htm
THE PROCESS
An interested person who is looking for a team mate and/or soulmate starts filling out the request form here:
http://www.truckercupid.com/account/my/account.php
It’s quite long and takes about 5 minutes to do for experienced web users and about 15 minutes for new computer users. It’s both computer and cell phone friendly.
The form makes it quite clear each person MUST have been in the industry or IS in the industry or their significant other or family member is/was in the industry. Any one of those life backgrounds allows them to understand the trucker lifestyle. If someone fills out the form who has NO CLUE about truck driving and/or the industry, I DO NOT approve their membership.
The age requirement is 22 yrs old and up. We have 14 right now under the age of 35 but we average a lot less over a 12 month period.
If a woman or man is looking for a trainer that they themselves choose rather than allow a carrier to choose for them, I spend 30 minutes to an hour explaining to and educating that person on everything they need to know about it before allowing them to be a member IF this is their first time in the truck with a trainer or co-driver.
I allow someone to be a member if I am convinced they should be. With so many years under my belt of talking to drivers about a job, I’ve gotten quite good at reading between the lines though most are very easy to figure out. I have a 98% success record at making a the right decision.
What I do for drivers is far better than any other alternative. If they were to hire someone to consult with them it would cost them $100 easily to take up a professional’s time investment with them. My time for consultation is free. The small membership fee does not cover my personal time.
Once someone interested submits the request form, then they are told to CALL me. They are told if they don’t call me, then they just wasted their time in filling out the form. I require this because it let’s me know who is serious and it shows me they are not trying to hide who they are and they are willing to be interrogated. This is a HUGE aid to keeping out predators!
At this time I have over 450 requests in from Feb/March of people who requested a membership that have not called me! It’s not unusual to have 1,000+ over a 3 month period who never call me for approval. This speaks volumes to theirr sincereity and let’s me know a high # of those could have been some level of a predator.
I return calls usually on Sat & Sun every week. If I am able I take the calls that come in during my office hours (10am – 7pm) M-F, I drop what I’m doing if possible and take care of the approval process on the spot. It takes from 15 minutes to sometimes an hour to do an interview depending on whether or not I need to council with someone for a longer period of time.
Once an approval is completed and I’m satisfied someone should be approved, the new member gets a welcome email immediately with full details on how to login and a link to the terms of service and a link to our etiquette guidelines. I stroongly suggest everyone MUST read both.
In the terms of service there is the offering of a background check service that members can use to do a check on anyone they are interested in (with that person’s written approval). It is explained (sometimes while I’m on the phone with them) that in their interview process with a member they are interested in, that it’s ok to ask that person if a background check can be run on them and then the party who wants to run, may do so. I’ve not known of anyone yet that has asked anyone for a background check.
Since carriers require a background check on drivers, many people do not run another one feeling it isn’t necessary. That’s completely up to each member’s own judgment.
AVERAGE PERCENTAGES
> .05% of women entering truck driving are approved or even apply.
> 1% are men or women who are willing to train someone have to be approved by me. NO EXCEPTIONS!
> 98% men & women members approved are or were experienced drivers.
> 1% were married to, or dated for a long period of time or had a close family member in trucking are approved.
> 100% have to talk to me to be approved.
> 70% report back to me their experience using the service.
> 90% of those who report back to me and keep in touch are happy with their experience.
> 44% renew their membership (it’s not an automated renewal) until they either give up or find who they are looking for.
> 97% of our members are over the age of 35 on the average.
> NO ONE, TO MY KNOWLEDGE, HAS BEEN ASSAULTED, DISCRIMINATED AGAINST, OR WERE DUPED INTO DATING SOMEONE MARRIED! THAT IS AN INCREDIBLE ACCOMPLISHMENT!!!!
> All members know that if I receive a complaint from a member on another member, the one who is accused of not following our guidelines and TOS is banned from the service forever if I find out through proper investigation that the complainant’s information is indeed valid and h/she has violated our guidelines and terms of service. In this 3 year period I have banned 3 members.
> I have received 5 complaints in this first 3 years of service.
This service offers something NO OTHER SERVICE DOES! Online dating and team self match services have become more popular than anyone ever dreamed they would. Technology has its negatives and positives (like anything else) and seems to have a better success rate than any other option people have available to them. We live in a dangerous world. No one can promise 100% a safe experience online as that is not possible, but with my service I can promise we are 100% closer to safely meeting someone than any other option people have other than a $5000 service that matches up people with an in-person introduction and monitored dating schedule. That is simply not an option for long haul truckers on several levels.
If the day ever comes that I cannot provide this service as I is now or I can longer afford to pay for the overhead, I will close the service.
No one can offer a guarantee of success of finding your match or that you will be 100% safe in your decision to meet someone. Every service on or offline cautions their members of the chance they take and they better use good common sense!
My members know they can call me any time day or night if they get in a situation they are uncomfortable with. Men and women KNOW I am serious about their safety!
Now everyone has enough details to make a judgment of what I do to help people in our industry find who they are looking for. I invite anyone who would like to speak to any of my members of TruckerCupid.com to let me know. Most I feel sure would be happy to share with anyone their story.
Also there are testimonials on the site.
I will not be posting here any longer. I’ve done all I can do to try and reach you 4 or 5 people on here with the truth but some of you are simply too bitter and upset to want to hear the truth. I was intriqued at first but quite frankly very bored with you now. I’ve come to the conclusion no matter what I say, it won’t matter.
What is so amazing to me is how anyone could think that I would post anything I cannot prove! All any member of my services or anyone I helped get a job, could see what I post and jump in and tell everybody I am lying if that were the case. PLEASE READ THAT AGAIN & LET IT SINK IN! It would be very, very stupid of me to print something the world can read and I know that I could be challenged by a member or job seeker that what I say I do, I don’t. If that were true, I’d be more than stupid to do that!
LISTEN TO WHAT I’M SAYING. 100,000+ people I’ve dealt with (oline & in person over the last 11 years through my various services) know I didn’t lie to them. If that doesn’t sink in then I wonder how intelligent my disbelievers are. Or does it mean my disbelievers just get off on attempting to destroy good, decent people?(only 4 or 5 I know of here and the only ones ever to my knowledge). You can’t destroy me or what I do so that is futile on your part. But hey! give it your best shot!
BTW my phone hasn’t rung. I didn’t think it would. Challenging me online is one thing, but in erpson is yet another.
You can meet with me face to face this month at the Mid America Truck Show. C’on over to the WIT booth. I’ll be there Fri & Sat. I’ll be more than happy to talk with anyone about whatever you wish concerning my credibility.
Happy Trails! I’m done on here but still invite anyone who wants to to call me and/or meet me in person.
Marge Bailey
989.892.8433
Marge,
Sorry you won’t be commenting here any more, I think it’s gone a long way towards clearing things up on both sides as far as WIT and its mission goes. I can understand the lack of time though, my politics site has been severely neglected by me lately due to that.
I agree with you whole heartedly about ladies getting into trucking and thinking it is a bed of roses.. Marge is not a recuited she provides 2 services, she helps drivers find jobs with many companies and she also has a dating service to help truckers find a match. The dating is a service to professionals and to people in the trucking industry, because truckers have a hard time finding a match.. look at our divorce rate.. As for twitter im not involved with that because i have to much other stuff on my plate running team and so on. As for the cupid males on twitter, if woman go to truckercupid and check that male out and talk and be honest as to what the female is looking for for instance (im a trainee wanting to learn to driver but i am not looking to get into a relationship at this time im just looking for someone to teach me the professional ropes of the road, again i am not interested in a sleeper buddy.) Then do a back ground check b-4 getting into that truck…. Marge and Ellen are not the bad guys here at all.. the real bad guys that are misleading the gals are the company and trucking school recuiters they are sales people and lie out there teeth to get that signature on the contract. We should be after them and look at the positive stuff that Marge and Ellen do for Woman in trucking.. will you please direct me where on drivermatch they are doing free back ground checks..also i have to ask is the founder of drivermatch affiliated with CRST anyway?? Also you know as well as i do there is NO WAY to make sure that the preditors out in this industry are stopped. heck there are female preditors out here also. All we can do is to educate ladies wanting to come out into this profession.They need to be told to talk to other woman drivers.
Ayah im sorry to hear about your situation, i would love to hear you story someday.
Good luck ladies with your goal. I wish you luck. I just dont think personal attacks is the way to get things done. Just my opionion. Or name calling or cussing at each other by some of the other woman on the website. i will stay posted and look forward to seeing your post in educating woman.
Thank You Angie,
We appreiciate your advice. I wish you had been able to offer it on the WIT forum beginning in 2008 when the conduct spun so completely out of control & was intended to silence Trucker Desiree’s story.
Many times “we don’t want to scare anyone off” was repeated as the reason from WIT meaning new female recruits. I see that as totally irresponsible.
Angie the conduct left unchecked by WIT spun out into the internet into a lynch mob where threats to Desiree were made for many months & culminating into Ellen Voie seeking to Sue her after she deleted posts & attempts to Skew information to more than one entity.
That is a problem as Ellen has branded herself the Woman Truckers Voice.
Marge at least has the courage to listen & learn what objections are being made from the message WIT is giving.
There is much that could have been avoided if handled in a professional manner by WIT members & Ellen Voie herself.
I commend Marge for being big enough to take the heat others created & her correcting her tweet stream for Trucker Cupid
[...] See the original post here: Ellen Voie answers Questions about CRST Sexual Harassment case … [...]
From: David Hipschman
Date: Mon, Mar 8, 2010 at 4:20 PM
Subject: Re: Part 2 of Q & A is Posted
To: Desiree Wood
Cc: Ellen Voie
Desiree:
Thanks for copying me with this.
However, please do correct a misconception in this paragraph that you wrote: “David Hipschman is not an “Old Friend” of Ellen Voie’s; he has never met her before she contacted him to look into Public Records about me so that she could potentially sue me for Libel/Slander/Harassment.”
In fact, Ellen is an acquaintance of mine and I have know her for about five years, having been introduced to her by one of my oldest friends, a pilot, here in Wisconsin. Also, she is correct in saying that her concerns were shared among several people — including me — at a luncheon. It was after that lunch conversation that I looked into things on her behalf and provided her with the publicly available information I found, but she did not “hire” me to do so.
I have copied Ellen with this email.
Thank you, and thanks again for your understanding when we spoke, as you no doubt recall you called me while I was at the hospital in New Jersey awaiting the outcome of my Dad’s heart surgery … so if any of the misconception was my fault due to speaking with you out of the context of normal business I do apologize.
Sincerely,
David Hipschman
Compass Consulting & Investigations, LLC
On 3/3/10 3:00 AM, Desiree Wood wrote:
This is a BCC
Part 2 of the Q & A Between Ellen Voie & Heather Rose is posted with my response to the Private Investigator
http://realwomenintrucking.com/112/ellen-voie-answers-questions-about-crst-sexual-harassment-case-part-2/
–
TruckerDesiree
MY RESPONSE 3/8/10:
Dear David:
Thank You for responding. I did send you the copy of this post on 3/3/10 and today is 3/8/10 and you had not replied before now.
In our phone conversation I relayed the content of the question and answer and asked you more than once about any prior relationship/friendship with Ellen Voie and you said you did not have one.
I expressed to you that our conversation would be posted in a public place and I would forward you what I said, which I did. I expressed this to you because I wanted you to clearly understand that Ellen Voie answered the question in a way that made it seem like it was a group of friends that met for lunch and this topic of concern came up. You were very clear to me that this was not the case but you seem to retract that entirely today.
I understand Ellen Voie has been out of town on a business trip and by coincidence I have received another correction from Marge Bailey I will also be posting.
Our conversation was very implicit in my opinion that Ellen Voie was not by happenstance at an lunch with friends who were distressed about her and took it upon themselves to look at public records about me.
I did not ask you whether she paid you or not. I was addressing whether you were her personal friend doing her a favor. You replied “No” and went on to say that the purpose of your meeting was specific, that was me.
That you left out being an “Aquaintence” is a rather big ommission due to the context of our entire conversation.
I understand you were at the hospital because you stated that halfway through our conversation but if you will remember, the phone call dropped and you called me back.
You also asked me questions that I answered for you. I did not post the entire conversation that we had and whether you were actually hired or paid is irrelevant to the purpose I called to follow up with you.
I will post this correspondence in it’s entirety because I have tried to be transparent during this entire journey so that everyone who wants to read and make their own evaluation can do so.
This is also BCC to all
Sincerely,
Desiree Wood
TruckerDesiree´s last blog ..“Sam” from my Story, R.I.P. “Cujo”
[...] first post had so many comments I had to shut them down. By the time the second and third posts were up I was ready to become ill as I watched this organization dig themselves in [...]