Advice For Women Entering Trucking
- Thread starter Road Dust
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alainkelvin
Guest
From: http://blog.jiggyjobs.com/2011/05/23/tips-for-women-in-trucking/
Women just entering for trucking have a different path through a training carrier they must navigate and this can be a crapshoot for their long term success. This is where many women trucker are eliminated in the first year from trucking. Try to find a female in the carrier you choose who can help you navigate your training process in a way that is relevant to your situation. Getting through CDL school is quite easy to perform some challenging tasks on the road and trying to manage the personal issues.
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Bulls***.
Men have to deal with pretty much the same crap as women. We're not special just because we have indoor plumbing. This is one of the few jobs that can't make exceptions based on gender. You either can do the job or you can't. If you can't (or won't) get out of the truck and make room for someone who will.
Men have to deal with pretty much the same crap as women. We're not special just because we have indoor plumbing. This is one of the few jobs that can't make exceptions based on gender. You either can do the job or you can't. If you can't (or won't) get out of the truck and make room for someone who will.
Duck
Sarcastic remark goes here
I think she was referring to the issues many women have with finding female trainers. There have been lawsuits against carriers for making women sit & wait around for long periods of time waiting for a female trainer to become available. There is a shortage of female trainers in this industry. And there are also issues with female drivers being pressured or coerced into training in an attempt to address that shortage when these women simply don't want to train.
If a carrier ignores the difference in plumbing & sticks them with a male trainer, then they've got a different set of issues to deal with if the guy turns out to be a cave man, or even if the guy is a perfect gentleman but the woman still doesn't feel comfortable or if she was told by the recruiter she could have a female trainer.
Her post was about the differences in getting through training, not the job itself once training is over with. No need for the tomahawk.
I've been with two companies that train, each with opposite policies on training women.
Prime insisted on only women training women. The wait time for female trainers was prohibitively long and they ended up in some pretty deep hot water over it. They went to this policy because of one serious incident in which the male trainer was not properly screened and, when the female trainee initially complained, was not addressed. After that incident, they made a blanket policy that was very discriminatory and kept women from being trained sometimes for months, while their male counterparts immediately got into a truck and started earning money. There were a few women who waited nearly a year to get trained. This policy prevented me from going into the tanker division the entire time I was there. I can't recall seeing a single female tanker-yanker at Prime and it was because they refused to allow their current drivers to train women.
Swift's policy is the student may choose to train with someone of the opposite gender or can choose to train with someone of the same sex. Similarly, trainers may opt to train opposite or same gender students. I'm quite sure there are occasional problems with lines being crossed, but when Swift hears about it, it is dealt with quickly and decisively. Students have been pulled off trucks at terminals sometimes hundreds of miles from home, housed in a motel and a different trainer assigned. It is made very clear to trainers that such behavior will not be tolerated and, if serious enough, will be prosecuted through the courts. I have heard of one female trainee complaining about her male trainer in the time I've been here. She was upset that he would have risque conversations with his wife while she was in the sleeper berth and he was driving.
I was trained by a man. He was the perfect gentleman the entire time I was on his truck. He did his job and I did mine. It never crossed my mind to complain about anything he did or said...because there was nothing to complain about. I was trained in a timely manner and began earning money at the same time as the men in my orientation class.
It boils down to company culture. If a company is run by reactionary Good Ol Boys like Prime, where the managers are prudes who want neither to hear about nor deal with problems, you end up with problems and a ridiculous, limiting blanket policy.
If a company is run with openness, by people willing to listen and with common sense, it is possible and even beneficial to train women effectively by men.
Both companies asked me to become a trainer. I have refused across the board. Prime's answer was to freeze me out and cut my revenue until I couldn't afford to be there anymore. Swift's answer was to just accept the fact I will not have a student on my truck, although I am perfectly willing to teach various things outside my truck...like chaining, logs and little tricks of the trade.
Women are trained in a timely manner at Swift. There are no lawsuits that I know of regarding discrimination with this regard. I can't remember whether a gender-based lawsuit has been won because of unaddressed harassment.
Prime can take forever to train a woman and, in cases like mine, women are completely shut out of certain sectors. Even after I insist I'm okay with being trained by a man to do the job. ...and guess what? Prime recently was sued (and, I think, lost BIG time) by women who had to wait and wait .....and wait.
Prime insisted on only women training women. The wait time for female trainers was prohibitively long and they ended up in some pretty deep hot water over it. They went to this policy because of one serious incident in which the male trainer was not properly screened and, when the female trainee initially complained, was not addressed. After that incident, they made a blanket policy that was very discriminatory and kept women from being trained sometimes for months, while their male counterparts immediately got into a truck and started earning money. There were a few women who waited nearly a year to get trained. This policy prevented me from going into the tanker division the entire time I was there. I can't recall seeing a single female tanker-yanker at Prime and it was because they refused to allow their current drivers to train women.
Swift's policy is the student may choose to train with someone of the opposite gender or can choose to train with someone of the same sex. Similarly, trainers may opt to train opposite or same gender students. I'm quite sure there are occasional problems with lines being crossed, but when Swift hears about it, it is dealt with quickly and decisively. Students have been pulled off trucks at terminals sometimes hundreds of miles from home, housed in a motel and a different trainer assigned. It is made very clear to trainers that such behavior will not be tolerated and, if serious enough, will be prosecuted through the courts. I have heard of one female trainee complaining about her male trainer in the time I've been here. She was upset that he would have risque conversations with his wife while she was in the sleeper berth and he was driving.
I was trained by a man. He was the perfect gentleman the entire time I was on his truck. He did his job and I did mine. It never crossed my mind to complain about anything he did or said...because there was nothing to complain about. I was trained in a timely manner and began earning money at the same time as the men in my orientation class.
It boils down to company culture. If a company is run by reactionary Good Ol Boys like Prime, where the managers are prudes who want neither to hear about nor deal with problems, you end up with problems and a ridiculous, limiting blanket policy.
If a company is run with openness, by people willing to listen and with common sense, it is possible and even beneficial to train women effectively by men.
Both companies asked me to become a trainer. I have refused across the board. Prime's answer was to freeze me out and cut my revenue until I couldn't afford to be there anymore. Swift's answer was to just accept the fact I will not have a student on my truck, although I am perfectly willing to teach various things outside my truck...like chaining, logs and little tricks of the trade.
Women are trained in a timely manner at Swift. There are no lawsuits that I know of regarding discrimination with this regard. I can't remember whether a gender-based lawsuit has been won because of unaddressed harassment.
Prime can take forever to train a woman and, in cases like mine, women are completely shut out of certain sectors. Even after I insist I'm okay with being trained by a man to do the job. ...and guess what? Prime recently was sued (and, I think, lost BIG time) by women who had to wait and wait .....and wait.
Duck
Sarcastic remark goes here
LOL. I just Googled that spammer from India's post & found where he/she/it had copied it from.
http://blog.jiggyjobs.com/2011/05/23/tips-for-women-in-trucking/
@TruckerDesiree, .. she's a member on this forum.
http://blog.jiggyjobs.com/2011/05/23/tips-for-women-in-trucking/
@TruckerDesiree, .. she's a member on this forum.
Storm Chaser
Member
That's right if you can't back a big rig, fuel one, check oil, water, tires and so on you don't need to be out there. The things they teach in Truck Driving School doesn't even touch on the real stuff that goes on out on the road. You have to be strong and keep a level head and not be a whiner at everything. If it a job for you, you can do it. Like the song says, It takes a Special Breed to be a Truck Driving Man or Women. Good Luck
Storm Chaser
Member
I do believe I'm going to get along with this lady.
Thank you so much. But it's the truth. It's not a Party or a game driving a big rig like all the young truck drivers think. It's a Profession and not everyone can do it.
Storm Chaser
Member
Yes I agree.. And don't forget when your at a stand still on the 10 or 60 ...... If you see a a motorcycle rider coming up between you and the other guy.... Open your door real quick when he gets by you. O poops didn't see you.
Storm Chaser
Member
That's crazy.....Create an account or login to comment
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