Hey Girls!

Just wanted to drop in here and properly introduce myself. I'm getting ready to make that great big scary leap into trucking, and it's nothing but deep end so I know I'm going to need support from my fellow ladies in particular (because it's a tough world out there on the road and we girls have to stick together).

My name is Jessica. I'll be 28 next month. I live just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, with my boyfriend of 5 years and our pets -- a parrot named Calvin, a goofy yellow lab named Simba, and two cats, Gideon and Penny. I've done all kinds of random jobs in my short adult life. I've been a car detailer, a kennel assistant (a.k.a. poop cleaner) at a veterinary clinic, a salesperson in multiple retail joints, a fast-food slave, and a hand-feeder/trainer at an exotic parrot store (that was the most awesome job). I was a graphic designer for 9 years. Then, last summer, I quit work and went back to college to pursue a degree in radiology. I already had one year under my belt; I'm currently wrapping up my second year (out of 4). I'm starting to have doubts that the medical profession is really for me. I'm tired of the rigid, stuffy, stifling atmosphere of...well, the ENTIRE working world. I want something that's truly exciting, something different. That's so hard to find in your average job, where you drive the same route to the same building and look at the same people, sit at the same desk or stand at the same work station and work the same hours every day, doing the same thing. Day in and day out, rinse and repeat. Ugh. No way.

Since the age of about 7, my dream has always been (and still is) to be a pilot. I want to fly those great big jet airliners so bad, you have no idea! I had every mechanical component, every flight instrument, every takeoff and landing procedure memorized before I knew how to drive a car! I could fly perfect patterns in simulators and talk shop fluently with my dad (who is an aviation mechanic). That dream never panned out for me, though. I was always just a little too overweight to join the Air Force, and I definitely couldn't go to flight school out of pocket!

My second dream job? Driving trains. I'd love to drive a train. What a cool job! But that's not happening either.

It took me a long time, but you know it had to happen eventually: I was sitting in traffic on I-85 coming into Charlotte after a weekend out of town. I was up near Kannapolis, where the Charlotte Motor Speedway is. It was a race weekend, and traffic was nuts. I was stuck behind a great big monstrous tractor-trailer and I was cursing irritably because I couldn't see around him. I sat behind that truck for 30 minutes or so while we did the creep through the congestion. And out of nowhere it dawned on me: TRUCKING! Why on earth hadn't I ever thought of that?! All of my other "dream jobs" involved transportation and freight, after all. This is no different!

So here I am. I had to wade through a lot of BS and misleading information to find this sweet little corner of the internet, but I'm so glad to be here. It is ASTOUNDING how much I have learned on this website in such a short amount of time. I'm doing the High Road training program too, which is helping me immensely. I'm still figuring out which company-sponsored school I want to go to at this point, but I've already started learning.

So anyway. That was my extremely long, overly-verbose way of saying HI! And I'm glad to be here. I'd love to get to know some of you gals and, if everything works out, maybe meet on the road someday. :)

Glad to have you. Look around and dont just jump into to a contract easly. There is alot to choose from. Check out the school diary's. I have one on there for Celadon's school Quality Drivers. Good luck and keep in touch.

Welcome Houkie !!! This forum is where us ladies...and our resident knuckle dragger, Guy, learn the ins and outs of Ladies on the Road. Its a little different for us..we can't pull over and "rinse a drive tire" without showin' our butt. We can't throw chains like the guys ( but I learned to do it different) cuz of our lack of upper body strength, and we have to learn to take more disrespect, and bs, than guys, when it comes to trucking. BUT...it doesn't take outside plumbing to be a truck driver !!! And alot of companies prefer women drivers...why, you ask ?? Because we will never be a outlaw driver, we are safer, as a rule, and we tend to get along better with shippers and receivers. Do shippers and receivers try to con us?? yup..and we tell them in our soft little voices "well bless your heart"...which all us ladies know what THAT really means...I'm married to a Tall Southern Boy...who was born and raised in Mooresville, right outside Charlotte...so if you see me refer to TSB...thats who I'm talkin' about...Have fun in here, and ask any questions you may have that you dont want to throw out in the general forum..after all...when it comes to OTR truck driving, us ladies have some "issues"

Just wanted to drop in here and properly introduce myself. I'm getting ready to make that great big scary leap into trucking, and it's nothing but deep end so I know I'm going to need support from my fellow ladies in particular (because it's a tough world out there on the road and we girls have to stick together).

My name is Jessica. I'll be 28 next month. I live just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, with my boyfriend of 5 years and our pets -- a parrot named Calvin, a goofy yellow lab named Simba, and two cats, Gideon and Penny. I've done all kinds of random jobs in my short adult life. I've been a car detailer, a kennel assistant (a.k.a. poop cleaner) at a veterinary clinic, a salesperson in multiple retail joints, a fast-food slave, and a hand-feeder/trainer at an exotic parrot store (that was the most awesome job). I was a graphic designer for 9 years. Then, last summer, I quit work and went back to college to pursue a degree in radiology. I already had one year under my belt; I'm currently wrapping up my second year (out of 4). I'm starting to have doubts that the medical profession is really for me. I'm tired of the rigid, stuffy, stifling atmosphere of...well, the ENTIRE working world. I want something that's truly exciting, something different. That's so hard to find in your average job, where you drive the same route to the same building and look at the same people, sit at the same desk or stand at the same work station and work the same hours every day, doing the same thing. Day in and day out, rinse and repeat. Ugh. No way.

Since the age of about 7, my dream has always been (and still is) to be a pilot. I want to fly those great big jet airliners so bad, you have no idea! I had every mechanical component, every flight instrument, every takeoff and landing procedure memorized before I knew how to drive a car! I could fly perfect patterns in simulators and talk shop fluently with my dad (who is an aviation mechanic). That dream never panned out for me, though. I was always just a little too overweight to join the Air Force, and I definitely couldn't go to flight school out of pocket!

My second dream job? Driving trains. I'd love to drive a train. What a cool job! But that's not happening either.

It took me a long time, but you know it had to happen eventually: I was sitting in traffic on I-85 coming into Charlotte after a weekend out of town. I was up near Kannapolis, where the Charlotte Motor Speedway is. It was a race weekend, and traffic was nuts. I was stuck behind a great big monstrous tractor-trailer and I was cursing irritably because I couldn't see around him. I sat behind that truck for 30 minutes or so while we did the creep through the congestion. And out of nowhere it dawned on me: TRUCKING! Why on earth hadn't I ever thought of that?! All of my other "dream jobs" involved transportation and freight, after all. This is no different!

So here I am. I had to wade through a lot of BS and misleading information to find this sweet little corner of the internet, but I'm so glad to be here. It is ASTOUNDING how much I have learned on this website in such a short amount of time. I'm doing the High Road training program too, which is helping me immensely. I'm still figuring out which company-sponsored school I want to go to at this point, but I've already started learning.

So anyway. That was my extremely long, overly-verbose way of saying HI! And I'm glad to be here. I'd love to get to know some of you gals and, if everything works out, maybe meet on the road someday. :)

I am here right along with ya. I know its going to be hard just because I am female. I am willing to push even that much harder. I am doing this for myself and my family. Thankfully I don't have children at home anymore because I am not sure I could do it then. I am having to put my head back in the game and study again after being sick for a week and half. I also wanted something more exciting than the medical field which is the same depressing stuff every single day just a different face. So I wish you luck and definitely do your research before jumping into anything!

It was really interesting Hii Houkie... :) My blessings are with you. It's good to see that you also have interest in animals. It is hard and tough world and in starting you will have some complications but it will be great if you have so much interest in it. Have a great life as a trucker. :)