One of the funniest lines in the Movie “Stripes” with Bill Murray is when everyone was sitting and talking about their experience before joining the Army and he says something about “…. I was never in the Boy Scouts but my cousin was…’

It was funny in the movie but in this case it is disturbing when an organization has attempted to conceal, discredit, cyber-stalk, deny they are a driver advocate, retract that and say they are a driver advocate but for Men & Women. Then apply for a huge grant to speak for the Women they have slandered on the Q & A section.

Without a doubt the passion for Women Truckers is not there whose highest turnover would be retention of new recruits.

That this very same organization would permit publishing of a book meant to encourage recruitment when these issues left unaddressed could lead to a single Women being harmed is grossly unethical.

One top of that, charging Women Truckers for a membership for a false promise who can barely afford the expense and utilizing them to further promote this organization make one think of Pinnocchio going to Pleasure Island and turning into a Jackass and being sent to the Salt Mines.

New Women to Trucking who know nothing of this industry and are entering it alone are the most suseptible to organizations like this and the highest risk to be harmed or retaliated against when reporting abuse.

This site is dedicated to provided free information to make better choices so that you don’t waste your money or hope and lose your dream of becoming a trucker.

Trucking is a great job if you understand that some of the biggest obstacles are the trucking industry leaders, not the truck.

Generally those who try to write or understand truckers whether women or not; do not have a clue unless they ride with one for a month or two.

I can not tell how many books, movies and articles I have read or tried to read just to be disgusted just to toss the book, article or movie away.

These women who are statistically trying to do this grant are in this clueless catagory of writers and directors and movie makers. CLUELESS!!!!!!!!!!!

They need to go out for a month or two and really meet women truckers. No Hotels, motels or easy set ups. Just the road and a roll of toilet paper. Get a first hand experiance of life on the road trucker style.

We trucker women; as well as men. We are a pioneer breed of women and men who are survivors; Strong and Proud.

People who try to write, whether grants or? Are unable to do so unless are willing to stomp and tromp. So when you or any body else out there wants to write about women truckers. Be prepared to stomp and tromp and do the mileage trucker style.

I am replying to you the best I can because Heather is having a Life “Transistion” of sorts.

The number of Women in the Trucking Industry & the Number of Women Truckers should first not be combined.

The Labor Statistics for Truck Drivers are not defined as clearly as one would like and there has been controversy of what number reflects accurately.

5%-6% is what is most commonly cited but this number I believe is false from what I see out here.

Recruitment of Women seems to be more like 18%-20% and retention of those recruits is the problem. It is not uncommon to run into 3 or 4 Women Truckers at a fuel stop.

In fact I have had to share my morning wash up bathroom counter with as many as 5 other female drivers and that’s a lot of Women sharing one mirror.

I recently attended a safety blitz at my company where I sat in a class of 22 drivers, 7 of them were women but some were students.

My particular company has said in memo’s and announcements that we do have a female driver population of 17%, I once heard the number of 20% but I do work for a company that is primarily students.

I meet more Female Owner-Operators lately and they seem to keep a very low profile. I do speak to them and most are not in the computer age, they are just working hard.

I am hoping that with this coming year we can gather more accurate data and devise some conduct skills to help raise the retention rate more inline with the recruitment level.

More Female Trainers are needed but Women tend to not want to take risks by training someone else when they have limited skills themselves. It takes at least a year to have system down for yourself to maintain log books, manage your time, remember where you can park in certain cities and so forth.

If you have endured a lot of “Issues” during your preliminary trucking carreer you tend to want solitude over the added money training could provide.

I hope we can bridge that gap as well.

You are most welcome to become a fan on the facebook women truckers page and meet other ladies drivers from the USA and Canada.

Some like Heather began trucking as teenagers with their Father’s and have now moved into industry positions. They might be a good source for you to gather more information.

http://www.facebook.com/REALWomenTruckers

Cheers,

Desiree
TruckerDesiree´s last blog ..“Sam” from my Story, R.I.P. “Cujo”