Sexism In Trucking From A Woman's Perspective

Rainy. I appreciate this article and how you tell it like it is and don't sugar coat anything.

i never did have a sugar bowl in my home.

Thanks everyone! really appreciate your thoughts. Im glad i touched on something some newer posters could relate to.

also, another safety tip some women use that i realized not everyone does or thought of....some women wrap the seat belts around the door handles to keep.someone from opening the doors. safety wise, i think susan, fllatie mountain girl and i would just run someone over. mountain girl would dump the body in WY never to be found lol

the problem with the seat belt thing is that some trucks like Big Scotts KW have pop out sleeper windows and some trucks dont. My casacdia doesnt. so, burn to deatb trying to unfasten the seat belt...or get attacked by a norman bates outside. decisions decisions. lol

Actually, the windows in the bottom bunk are doors. They are designed for emergency exit. However, they come in handy some times for loading some things in.

Outstanding article Rainy.

One day we will have to meet. My wife is also from NJ, you 2 I'm thinking would possibly get along great.

OS, the main reason I'm on FB is because when I started this adventure I had lots of folks wanting to know where I'm at, etc. So I decided by using FB (most of the folks that wanted to know are on FB), that way I have only 1 place to update instead of repeating myself numerous times each day.

One of my favorite sayings I use almost daily, "90 percent of anything you do in life is ATTITUDE".

Have a safe day everyone.

Ernie

Excellent article Rainy. You are spot on all the way around. Personal responsibility and common sense have been dead in 70% of our country for a long time. Well done young lady!!!

Holy crap, I registered onto this forum just for this topic. I don't know what to be more disappointed over: what was so conveniently glossed over or the praise of "telling it like it is". I remember reading an article from the free Petro trucking magazine, praising that the "female presence" in the trucking world is at an all time high.

Big whoop.

There are many females on the road in trucks, it doesn't mean they are drivers. I first learned of the road term of these types of females in school: "the in-cab (rhymes with switch)". "The Bunk (rhymes with wussy)". I will refer to them here on out as ICB's. Classmates bragged about getting one when they graduated like a status symbol, as if they were just another "custom accessory" for their truck.

The more experience I earned, the more irritating it became to be mistaken for an ICB simply for the fact that I am a female.

I studied and worked WAY too hard to be just assumed as another "real life Peg Bundy." That is essentially what ICB's are. They are literally rolling couch potatoes who do nothing all day and serve no other purpose than to serve as a valet and "entertainment" to the driver. Which, it's their prerogative to choose that "life" (if you can call it that). As hard as I have worked and as hard towards being the best, and as I have worked to prove being taken seriously as a driver, the generalization can't help but chap my azz. But I am forced to abide by that. At the same time, it's these very women who choose to be ICB's who make it that much harder for me to be taken seriously as a driver, and I feel that THEY should have to abide by THAT.

I have been interrupted while fueling by male drivers who remark the equivalent of what a well behaved, attentive and helpful ICB I am to fuel the truck and wash the windows "for my man." I ask which man, the dude who signs my check? They reply no, the driver. I reply "I am the driver, this is my shift, why wouldn't I fuel the truck?" And they retreat like holy water to a vampire🙄. There are parts of the country where I get stares of sheer bewilderment and confusion, by both the driver AND their ICB's, just by being a female in the driver's seat. I have literally heard it being referred to as "the man's seat" and was asked what I was doing there, by both driver and his ICB. I replied "last I checked, the truck ignition is operated by a KEY, not a pea niss." They looked at me like I had spoken Martian and my hair was on fire. One of the first instances of this that I had ever witnessed pretty much ticked on down the list of every possible stereotype: the driver had billy bob teeth, greasy clothes (sleeves torn off) and trucker cap to match. Blond mullet. And spoke like Mater with a foul mouth. As he stepped out to fuel, he stepped up to yell into the window apparently barking orders at his ICB as if he were a drill sergeant "Woman! Git yer azz up and be useful! Fetch me mah coffee! Warsh mah winders! Fluff mah pillers!" And she popped out of the truck as he asked, with the speed that suggested that if she went any slower, she might get smacked. I have visited all but 6 states out of our 50, take it from me, sexism is BAKED IN to the "culture" of trucking. These women who choose the ICB lifestyle help perpetuate it.

Shockingly, I have learned over the years that women themselves help enable and perpetuate sexism. I say shockingly because, most of the time, these are the women who say with their mouths words like "equality" and "fairness". Yet, in deed, they either vamp or play the damsel act just to get by, or to even trick their way out of doing the same amount of work! I have more oilfield experience than I do OTR. I have seen it so much, it's like clockwork: the woman will put up a front about wanting to be treated equally, yet when it comes to actually doing the same work, they either vamp (flirt, throw head back/toss hair, bat eyelashes, wiggle butt, etc) or play damsel in distress to play upon the hard wired male instinct to "swoop in" and "rescue". As the male coworker "helps", the female then retreats into the shadows and plays on her phone while the male coworker is now doing the work of both. How is this equality? And when I bring this up to these females, more often than not, they rear up on their hind legs refuting that it's not true when I literally have witnessed firsthand that it is. I know I may not be a 10, but I know I'm further away from being barker. Though I downplay it for work, I know I've got bombshell measurements. I know full well that, if I really wanted to, I could out-vamp every one of those females easily. But that's not what I'm here for. I know that, though it's the easier way to get through the day, the greater cost is that I am perpetuating the very problem.

And her advising to pull into a fuel lane for NON FUELING PURPOSES? It's adding to the ALREADY RAMPANT (and getting worse) problem of inconsiderate, selfish drivers camping out in the fuel lane, taking up and abusing the most valuable real estate that truck stop has. Using any and every possible (sometimes even no) excuse to HOG UP AND OCCUPY the very place you need to be when you have to fuel! If you're that scared to be spotted alone, find other, more efficient, less selfish and inconsiderate measures. Or find a new trade 😤

I know I may not be a 10, but I know I'm further away from being barker.

Odd statement for someone that seems offended when other people see only one aspect of them.

Even odder to compare yourself to others on some sort of sliding scale of sexual attractiveness in a thread about sexism.

But perhaps the absolute hypocrisy is wriitng those things above while (in the very same instance) reaching out to attack an article that is meant to aid women who may not be the strong, all-answer-possessing, shining beacons of feminine trucking that you seem to be. I'm no woman, but I guess it's just easier to be an intolerant critic than to try lending other women a hand.

I have to agree with Jeremy. This whole conversation just took an interesting turn!

The reply above and the DAC report thread have kind of left me scratching my head today....Full Moon Maybe...

Thanks for your reponse and opinion. I wrote that from my own experience and not once have i ever been called the names you have or been assumed to be someones ride along.i never even heard of those names. Sorry you have suffered those accusations. Most truckers, truck wash workers and mechanics seem quite comfortable with women drivers and do not seem shocked in the way you describe.

i too have driven through every state. The majority of couples i see out here are middle aged married couples with grown kids which allows the couple to remain together OTR. they are actually kinda cute. is it possible you are making wrong assumptions about them they way you state others make about you?

have i been asked "Do you drive for ..." as if the 12 foot logo on the trailer didnt give it away. Yeah, the guys are flirting, but it is no different than back home, and it is not vicious or intimidating.

as far as the fuel aisle, 10 minutes in a fuel aisle at midnight is not going to.kill someone. i usually go to the last one which we all know many truckers are too lazy to walk, so they rarely go in the far one. i didnt say to do the whole night there.

You and i have a difference of opinions which is great. I couldnt care less if Peg Bundy was in the next truck. if that is the set up of people i do not know and it makes them happy, so be it.

if a male driver wants to do the work for his wife or co driver, who cares. it in no way lessens me as a woman, driver, or person.

Perhaps i do not focus my attention on the people around me who do not really matter anyway. Again, this is my experience and im sorry you have had irritating and difficult ones.

Anyone know any good Chuck Norris jokes?

I think it's appropriate to offer the "Chuck" comparison since you are the preeminent "Venus of super trucker." Call me synical, but so sick of BS the likes of which you have bestowed upon the forum. Tough week...you are just one more "know-it-all" messing with our Chi and Me. Bad timing Ms. Bundy. Go find Al...

I've read a lot of good sh** on here, but this takes the cake. Outrageous is an understatement.

I've been out here for quite a while, work with and know many women truckers. Respect them all because not one has ever expected to be treated like the distressed little Diva you described. I work with a five foot nothing beast of a driver named Wanda with over a million miles accident free...do you think she needs my help? Hell no!

I've never witnessed or heard of anything closely resembling what you experienced and portrayed. Embellished a bit? I'll let the masses decide...

Not here to refute your story (okay a little bit), just trying to understand what exactly you would write if given the same difficult topic Rainy tackled so gracefully. Done so with the intent of helping other woman excel at this career, resisting the temptation to vent frustrations with the sexist culture of trucking and avoid flexing your assets to all the other ladies. Which by the way, your self promotion as a pin-up girl wanna-be was like a "fish out of water" when considering the overall gist of your content and critique. What would you say? "What say you" to all of the newbie ladies brave enough to enter a man's world? Stay away? C'mon...you got anything better than that?

For the record, Rainy is highly committed to her career. We love her for that. The great gender and racial equalizer in this job is; "commitment". I don't give a rats petute what color you are, who your God is, the side of the plate you hit from, or if you wear a bra; if you can handle a truck, maintain lane control in a high speed curve, that's all that matters to me! You on the other hand have serious doubts, as written in your bio. Perhaps not committed for the long term. What right do you have questioning Rainy's path? Difficult to take you as "serious"...Peg.

Credibility means a lot on this forum...credibility that Rainy has earned and proven over and over again that she has "it" in spades. You however want to quit...which categorizes your reply as a well written, novelistic rant as your first and perhaps only post. Fun to read, gets the blood flowing, but eventually forgettable as advice enabling a successful career. It's more like a backhanded warning to stay away unless every woman is exactly like you. What are the odds of that?

I'll put my trust in Rainy's experience and opinions on this subject, hands-down.

Welcome to the forum GK. Add some value if you want to stick around...