Schneider Donates Trucks; Congress Considers Women-driver-friendly Bill

With the driver shortage in view, and having an eye toward attracting prospective new drivers to its company, Schneider National, Inc., announced it is donating 10 used Schneider tractors to CDL training programs at four community and technical colleges. And two U.S. senators introduced a bill last week that would create a "Women of Trucking" advisory board reporting to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association.

Schneider donates trucks; Congress considers women-driver-friendly bill

I am absolutely freaking offended when groups push for things like this women in trucking bill. what it translates into is:

"We think you are too stupid to find a trucking job on your own or to use Google to research trucking. Women need us to push them into something.... and even though they have no probelm finding articles on 10 Ways to Please Your Man in Bed and 5 Fashion mistakes.. they are apparently helpless in researching trucking. Furthermore, we will enlighten them into believing trucking is soooo difficult that they NEED us to push and guide them."

amazingly, no one ever questions how these "stupid women" are able to find lawyers for class action discrimination suits..... apparently their research skills are only limited to job hunting.

they must think Susan and I are freaking geniuses. we didnt need anyone's help!

I heard about this on the radio both yesterday and today.

First two ladies of trucking I thought of were Susan and you!

I am absolutely freaking offended when groups push for things like this women in trucking bill. what it translates into is:

"We think you are too stupid to find a trucking job on your own or to use Google to research trucking. Women need us to push them into something.... and even though they have no probelm finding articles on 10 Ways to Please Your Man in Bed and 5 Fashion mistakes.. they are apparently helpless in researching trucking. Furthermore, we will enlighten them into believing trucking is soooo difficult that they NEED us to push and guide them."

amazingly, no one ever questions how these "stupid women" are able to find lawyers for class action discrimination suits..... apparently their research skills are only limited to job hunting.

they must think Susan and I are freaking geniuses. we didnt need anyone's help!

I think you misinterpret what these bills are meant accomplish. They're basically ways to draw up attention to particular career fields where there are labor shortages and unequal sex ratios. Same thing has occurred in the IT industry. It helps the industry and promotes a new career path many women would never even think to consider. Most women I know still believe being a trucker is a man's line of work.

No, i didn't misinterpret it at all, but thank you for making my point. You just pulled the same "you are stupid" concept with me.

I have worked in male dominated industries most of my life. I have a much better understanding of the work force ratios and ramifications of such policies/laws than some activist group or politician who wants to pander to groups to win elections.

I fail to see why "sex ratios" (cause now gender has a different meaning in todays world than it used to) need to be equal. Please enlighten me.

As an OTR driver, i want SAFE drivers on the road of any gender, race, religion, etc. To expect anything else is just sexist and racist.

Women who enter trucking tend to be either childless or middle aged with grown children. Women choose to stay home with their kids which makes sense. If the workforce is so short handed, then why does the gender matter? it shouldnt.

If these promotions to bring women in sugar coat trucking into being a great way to make good.money and be home every night, then the women are going to be lied to. They will be deceived into thinking they can go to school and straight in local jobs... which could end a career with tough backing and hard turns on narrow streets, leaving in debt for the schooling. This leaves them worse of tha before.In debt and terminated, which will limit their employment possibilities.

We see women comment here all the time convinced they can bring their children with them OTR.... even infants!!!! They think they can dictate their schedules based on their kids soccer games... and want to team woth their husbands but do t want the truck doing more than 3000 miles a week.

If women wanted to be truckers they would be. Too many wouldnt want to do this grimey, dirty job. Sometimes we cant shower everyday, our sleep habits are eratic and women are often whiney and demanding. They often cannot physically do the same job as a man, but feel the need to demand the job.

Ex: one newer driver who weighs about 105 pounds and is 57 years old cannot crank the landing gear and had trouble getting the trailer door closed. She literally held onto the handle and lifted her feet off the ground trying to use her weight to push the door handle into place. It didnt work.

How is someone who cannot crank the handle or close the door going to do.this job? And then the company can't fire her cause it is discrimination.

If they want to promote trucking to everyone, then fine. But do it in a realistic way of showing the true job, not the romantic picture. Do a freaking reality show where the women go OTR for two weeks. THAT would show women they can be truckers.

BTW... any bill.claiming to be for "women and other minorities" is basically saying "this is against all white men". racist and sexist.

What Kearsey said!!!

BTW... any bill.claiming to be for "women and other minorities" is basically saying "this is against all white men". racist and sexist.

This last bit here is why I won't bother putting together a response and you have clearly shown that you don't understand what these bills are meant to accomplish.

Lusion throws down, then walks away...

BTW... any bill.claiming to be for "women and other minorities" is basically saying "this is against all white men". racist and sexist.

This last bit here is why I won't bother putting together a response and you have clearly shown that you don't understand what these bills are meant to accomplish.

Consdering you are "still thinking about it"...why? She voiced her opinion and has proven chops to back it...her opinion is one that I and the majority of this forum greatly respect. Kearsey has "made-it" in this business and is wildly successful.

Besides, what on God's Green Earth could the Federal Government possibly do to make this business easier for anyone, let alone a single group of people? They have had plenty of chances...how have they made it easier for any of us? All one needs to-do is look at the kludged-up HOS Laws to understand my questions.

I'd take whatever Kearsey and Susan have to say about a women's life in trucking as Gospel long before I'd consider the advice or guidance of some Congressional Committee who's members likely are chauffeured to their Walnut and Tufted Leather offices....and know absolutely nothing about truck driving or sleeping in one while parked in a dirt lot. There is always some Political, self-serving reason for something like this...it's just not obvious yet.

Lusion...as an experienced trucker, I honestly believe there are far more important issues facing this industry than a lack of woman interested in becoming drivers. I see plenty of them who are performing at the highest levels, and they made it the same way all of us have; through focus, concentration, determination and hard work. If the government really wanted to do something useful that would serve us all, call a "spade a spade"; and elevate our job category from "unskilled" to "skilled". That single thing would have far more teeth, than some shallow Bill the Fed. will not have the bandwidth to enforce anyway. And cell phones...universally require motion technology to disable the keypad, forcing "hands-free" while driving. Never happen...yet cellphone abuse kills people everyday and the government knows it. I could go on..but I think my point is pretty clear.

That said, there is no sugar coating this, truck driving is difficult for anyone and does not need some promotional BS trying to entice any minority to enter this business. We need serious, committed people, with serious motivation as new truck drivers, regardless of sex, race, color or creed. Nothing is going to change the difficulty factor or the incredibly high failure rate; especially unnecessary intervention by the federal government. They are "up our asses" enough already...

I completely agree with Kearsey's most salient point, to paraphrase; "All any of us cares about is if a driver can hold their line and maintain control descending a steep grade as the 4-wheelers are passing them and one of us is following them." Beyond that very basic fact...everything else is just noise.

I have a different take on this and I'm more in line with Lusion's thinking.

Minority groups often convey conflicting ideas about how our society should operate, creating a no-win situation for those who are interested in creating new opportunities or better environments.

On the one hand, we're told minorities often feel like they are being discriminated against. They feel like they're being ignored or excluded from the things they would like to do. They demand equal treatment and equal rights. They demand support and inclusion in activities where they don't have equal representation. They go on marches, have parades, file lawsuits, and write articles to raise awareness of the injustices that are happening to them.

Yet, when someone tries to encourage and support minority participation, they get shot down as if they're belittling these minority candidates and treating them like they're helpless and stupid.

94% of all truck drivers are men, and the trucking industry has a shortage of drivers. They also have a shortage of skilled office workers. Groups like Women In Trucking, whom I admire, are trying to help women understand that there are fantastic opportunities throughout the trucking industry. They can be anything from drivers and mechanics to logistics coordinators, freight brokers, or company CEOs.

They want women to know that trucking has fantastic opportunities and that they'll find plenty of support even though it's a male-dominated profession. No one is saying anyone is stupid or helpless. Quite the opposite, in fact. They're telling women that they are plenty capable of doing any job in trucking and they can find a fantastic career in this industry.

Raising awareness of an opportunity and offering support to those who are interested is not to imply that anyone is blind or helpless. They're saying, "Hey, you can do this too and we're here to help."

Is offering support and encouragement considered offensive in today's society? It seems you'll be chastised no matter what you do. If you don't make an effort to help minorities, you're discriminating. If you try to help, you're condescending and arrogant.

94% of truck drivers are men. Should I shut up about it? Should I do something about it? I honestly don't know. It seems like I'll be considered a monster either way.

Lusion doesn't want to have a meaningful debate:

This last bit here is why I won't bother putting together a response and you have clearly shown that you don't understand what these bills are meant to accomplish.

Au contraire. I think that Kearsey does understand what these bills are meant to accomplish. She doesn't agree that they will be effective. She makes a good point about distorting reality to recruit a certain demographic, that only sets them up for failure. This will NOT accomplish what the bills were meant to accomplish.

If they want to promote trucking to everyone, then fine. But do it in a realistic way of showing the true job, not the romantic picture.

And Brett hits the nail on the head with the dilemma to want to help people:

If you don't make an effort to help minorities, you're discriminating. If you try to help, you're condescending and arrogant.

The problem with most of these social engineering efforts, is that they are political footballs rather than sincere efforts to help women or minorities, which may be why Kearsey reacted so strongly. Usually, the purpose of such bills is publicity for the sponsors. If you have a sincere desire to empathize, encourage and inspire, great. But don't go trying to blow smoke up a New Jersey girls *ss. Because their

sleep habits are erratic and women are often whiney and demanding