Advice From The Women Drivers
Topic 23331 | Page 1
Honestly, in this MeToo era, any company is going to be woman friendly. They are terrified of lawsuits and bad publicity, and they are all dealing with increased freight and driver shortages. they need good drivers who are efficient and self motivated. If she proves to be that, she can go a long way. My Fleet Manager prefers women cause he says they are safer drivers and more responsible...sorry guys.
As far as numbers of female drivers, the mega carriers naturally have more.
If you ask any women (or man for that matter) here, we will all say our company is the best lol
Stay away from all the negative stuff online about this company being sexist or that one perpetuating sexual harrassment. That stuff happens everywhere in every walk of life. How the woman handles it determines the outcome. The same is true for.any aspect of trucking. Terminal Rats, those complainers that bash the company and blame everyone but themselves for their situations, come in all shapes, sizes and genders.
Im at Prime. Susan is at West Side Transport. ChickieMonster is CalArk. Check out the diaries to see what woman have to say.
I wrote articles about sexism in trucking, fear of trainers, relationships and more.
Trucking from a Womans Perspective
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CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
Fleet Manager:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Ty for the response i personally went to school for my cdl a and went straight to solo northeast regional as i had 18 yrs experience driving log truck and didnt have to go the route she has to go but i told her its a good carreer she sees the kinda money i make “which i told her isnt gonna happen in her first yr”and told her best place to get her license and experience is with one of the big companies as she can get what she needs learn all thats available and still make a fair wage in the meantime she has applied to prime and to swift which are the 2 biggest i see out on the road with me Anyway thanks again
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Regional:
Regional Route
Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.
CFI is also a woman friendly company. They just made a special truck for one woman driver and are sending all the woman drivers a coin.
If you are looking for statistics...
According to Women In Trucking, 7.8% of truckers are women.
Swift has the most drivers and therefore the most female drivers, and although they have a lower percentage of women than some other companies 9%, they have the highest number of women at like 2800 i think. (i posted the link in another thread and can't find it)
The company with the highest percentage of.women...17% is Prime. Prime has a "Highway Diamonds" program where they give.out awards.and have an annual gala. i dont need a shirt, party or award to prove to me that i'm a woman trucker, and i find this kinda thing anti-men and sexist. The Prime facilities are beyond what I have seen of any other company via youtube videos or other drivers. we have a hair salon that gives massages, facials, pedicures and manicures... and we can even get "woman tests" at our in house doctors office. IMO this makes Prime female friendly and i feel quite spoiled. I thought i was pregnant and told.my FM.i needed to go.to.the terminal for.a.blood test, i was there two days later. Of course, he was probably afraid of my hormones if i was pregnant lol Never once have i been disrespected by a mechanic or dispatcher. When i tell the mechanic "it feels like maybe the fuel filter could be clogged or like there is a block in the fuel tank, it isn't getting fuel" he believes me. he doesn't roll his eyes at the stupid woman. i go to the terminal.and meet my support team. And we have a ton of married teams as well as a rider policy that allow spouses to ride along. because of this, there's a ton of women in the terminals and on the road.
Covenant has a high percentage of women compared to men, but the number is much lower. Their site mentioned most of their women drive teams such as mother and daughter or sister and sister.
i hope this helps.
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
Dispatcher:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.Fm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
It does she applied to both prime and swift prime said they cant do anything with her due to her gaps in employment “she had 2 major knee surgeries and she is 21”but swift is willing to give her that chance and she may start as soon as the 17th. Ty very much for the feedback im a lil nervous sendin her out i see some of the “stuff/words” flung around truck stops but i cant protect her her whole life and she is a feisty one anyways so im sure she will be fine good thing with seift is we live 20 minutes from walmart distribution in johnstown and she can work her way to a dedicated account and get home more often
Jeremy..I went to Roehl and got my CDL through there In house school. I ran a dedicated account for Kraft that put me in Johnstown weekly for my 34 hour... sometimes twice a week. It’s orobavly worth checking out Roehl to see if that’s available. They post opportunities on Roehl jobs.
Good luck
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
TWIC:
Transportation Worker Identification Credential
Truck drivers who regularly pick up from or deliver to the shipping ports will often be required to carry a TWIC card.
Your TWIC is a tamper-resistant biometric card which acts as both your identification in secure areas, as well as an indicator of you having passed the necessary security clearance. TWIC cards are valid for five years. The issuance of TWIC cards is overseen by the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
It does she applied to both prime and swift prime said they cant do anything with her due to her gaps in employment “she had 2 major knee surgeries and she is 21”but swift is willing to give her that chance and she may start as soon as the 17th. Ty very much for the feedback im a lil nervous sendin her out i see some of the “stuff/words” flung around truck stops but i cant protect her her whole life and she is a feisty one anyways so im sure she will be fine good thing with seift is we live 20 minutes from walmart distribution in johnstown and she can work her way to a dedicated account and get home more often
Im sure she sees worse on prime time TV and her facebook.page than what is out here. If she is shy and naieve, then she might have problems. Most men OTR help women especially when they see you cant back. She needs to have a clue and awareness of surroundings to be safe though.
That Johnstown NY walmart is someplace i have been to quite a bit. that area is very tough for new drivers, especially in the winter with the curves hills.and low bridges...however she will have an advantage knowing the area.
She might want to take letters with her from friends and family members stating she was out of.work due to surgery or school whatever. If things dont work out there, other companies might accept them.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
Lol im told that alot from outside drivers bein born and raised in the adks i guess i dont think nothing about the windy roads the mountains and the snow guess thats why i make a good northeast regional driver although once im south of dc i understand what everyone means the south and the west are easy goin compared to my neck of the woods thanks everyone for the time taken i have led the horse to the water now its on her to sink or swim i reckon thats adulthood
Regional:
Regional Route
Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.
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My 21 yr old stepdaughter wants to follow me into trucking im looking for advice on a female friendly company that offers full training any other advice i can offer her would also be apreciated as im sure its different out here for ladies Thankyou Jeremy