Are There Any LGBTQ Friendly Trucking Companies In Southern California In 2022?

Based on the national news over the past two years, it seem there is a huge demand for new Truck Drivers nowadays (in 2022).

Can anyone recommend any LGBTQ friendly trucking companies (that also offer CDL job training and job placement) in Southern California (in/near Palm Springs area preferably)?

I have also heard that many establish truck driving companies are replacing their older truck fleet with new automatic trucks (as new trucks are needed) and to easier get new truck drivers (without new drivers needing to know how to drive manual trucks). I was curious to to know if this is true and if automatic trucks are becoming more common nowadays?

Thank you in advance for your help. :-)

Hello Nick!

You don't need to be looking for any "special" trucking company that is friendly to any specific group of our vast and diverse population. They are all friendly to people who are willing to be self motivated, safe, productive, and easy to get along with. If that describes you, then you can expect to easily find employment and do well as a truck driver.

Trucking is as diverse as any career you can imagine. I've seen it all out here. Truckers are as unique as they are diverse. Don't single yourself out as though you require some place to be "friendly" to your needs. Trucking requires commitment and a willingness to "git 'er done." That's what trucking companies are friendly to. If you're cut from that kind of cloth you'll do well out here. They could care less about your sexuality.

Here's a great list of companies offering paid training. Each of them would be glad to hire you.

Paid CDL Training Programs

As to your other question. It's almost a 100% guarantee that you will be training with and driving an automatic transmission.

Please keep asking questions. We really enjoy helping newcomers to trucking.

Based on the national news over the past two years, it seem there is a huge demand for new Truck Drivers nowadays (in 2022).

Can anyone recommend any LGBTQ friendly trucking companies (that also offer CDL job training and job placement) in Southern California (in/near Palm Springs area preferably)?

I have also heard that many establish truck driving companies are replacing their older truck fleet with new automatic trucks (as new trucks are needed) and to easier get new truck drivers (without new drivers needing to know how to drive manual trucks). I was curious to to know if this is true and if automatic trucks are becoming more common nowadays?

Thank you in advance for your help. :-)

I want to share something with you that supports what Old School has shared. I was at a truck stop in Sturbridge, MA a little over a week ago. As I waited in line, there was a trans woman ahead of me. I thought this person was a driving a car and had stopped in (truck stops usually having fueling lanes for gasoline and parking for cars). She walked out the door to the truck fueling aisles and got in a truck hauling a flatbed load.

You will be respected for how you work, if you work hard and do your job well. Trucking companies care about turning a profit and good drivers come in all sorts of demographic types: man, woman, gender neutral, trans, bi, black, white, brown, etc. It's good drivers who help trucking companies turn profits. There are quite a few trucking companies that have terminals in either Fontana or Ontario. That's about the closest you will find the location for trucking companies that train inexperienced drivers. In truth, you don't need a company to have a terminal near you, if you are driving over-the-road. You just need a company to be willing to hire drivers from where you live, in other words, the company has freight that will enable you to get home every 2-3 weeks.

No victims in this industry, just those that fail due to their actual shortcomings. Most then blame someone else, a pervasive problem everywhere these days.

I had a Trans trainer, and a trans student.... Many LGBTQ students and friends at my company. As the others said... It's about your attitude and how you work. Trucking companies only see money green and if you make it for them you are good.

If you want to watch an interview I did at our Women Drivers Gala, you can hear it straight from the mouths of two lesbian couples who attended. I jump between interviewing various women so the whole video is cool in my opinion.... but around 7:30, the women specifically state they were more harassed in their old jobs than as lesbians in trucking that they believed the stereotypes they were taught and we're shocked.

Highway Diamonds Gala

I have LGBTQ friends at Swift and Roehl who have been quite happy. Keep in mind, there are no statistics on the amount of LGBTQ in trucking because it is illegal for companies to ask. So if you are looking for some magical place with a huge number in advertisement... Forget it. You would do better to look at Facebook groups for the companies.

Prime inc. They're not local, but will hire company drivers in Cali Lots of us LGBTQ folks, there's a Facebook group for us and everyone is pretty chill. Truckers aren't generally the issue and will leave you alone. I've never had a shipper or reciever treat me poorly because of my LGBTQ status. I mostly ever get weird looks from the locals because truck stops are less and less focused on actual truckers. Me and my wife are very happy with how we have been treated by prime both as a truck driver and as visibly LGBTQ people. My trainer was also respectful and professional. I'd recommend being up front about it since you'll be living with them in a closet for several months.

Also, primes discount program with Loves truck stops gets you unlimited showers that you can use to go to the bathroom if you feel unsafe. Pilot and flying j only require half as much fuel as everyone else to get in their unlimited shower program.

I did my CDL training this year with a mega carrier. I won’t name the company as it doesn’t matter.

I spent 9+ weeks living on my trainers truck with him on the road. In our last week together he told me he was gay. It didn’t matter or change anything in our relationship.

He has been training new drivers for this company for 11 years, driving for 13 years. Greater than one million safe miles. He is a good driver and a good trainer.

I knew that he had an ex-wife, adult children and grandchildren. He would meet his children and grandchildren for dinner when we were in the cities where they lived.

He talked with his current “spouse” frequently. I never suspected that spouse was a man until he told me.

I think he only said anything to me because we were having a conversation about a current LGBTQ event in the news and he wanted to let me know before any opinions were stated either way. My deceased stepson was gay, with an ex-wife and two sons, so I’m sensitive to some of the issues.

I don’t know if he tells all of his students or not. It doesn’t and shouldn’t matter so long as no unwanted sexual advances were made. That would violate the company sexual harassment policy no matter what gender pairs are living and working together in the small space of a truck for several weeks at a time.

I had to take a personality compatibility survey to help pair me up with a trainer. Stuff like smoker or non-smoker and a lot of work ethic related questions. Nothing about sexuality.

We were told that there was a possibility of being paired with a trainer of the opposite sex and that sexual harassment was strictly forbidden. Nothing said about being paired with a Gay trainer of the same sex. That of course would be illegal for the company to make that distinction.

You can take this story for whatever it is worth to you.

Nick S,

You’ve gotten good advice already, but I wanted to elaborate on what Old School said about you don’t really need an “LGBTQ friendly” company. And a lot it has to do with the nature of trucking, which good or bad, involves a lot of isolation.

In most normal jobs you have what I’ll call “secondary drama.” Secondary drama involves personal characteristics not relevant to performing your job, such as religion, politics, gender identify, sexual preference, etc. Although, you may perform your job well enough, people may not like you because of biases they have against your personal characteristics. In trucking, you don’t have enough interaction with people to even learn their personal characteristics. There is no chatting at the water cooler in trucking. No lunches with co-workers, or having a drink after work. I worked with my prior FM for two years and only met him when I came in to the terminal to transfer to tanker. Almost all of your communication is through the Qualcomm. Shippers and receivers, simply want to load/unload you and give/receive the BOLs. At truck stops most everyone holes up in their trucks. You will have very little interaction with other truckers, other than getting coffee, or buying something to eat. If you actually sit down for a meal, you might have some conversation. But pretty much everyone just minds their own business.

And another thing to put your mind at ease, truckers, warehouse workers, forklift operators, etc. are not the most socially adept people, In fact, their kinda like rejects from the Island of Misfit Toys. Among the flip-flop, track suit wearing, crowd on one end, and the greasy, toothless guy on the other end, you’re not going to stand out as much as you might think. You’ll get far more attention when you take a long to back into a spot than you will being openly gay, transgender, etc. At least that is my opinion from what I’ve observed.

As everyone has mentioned it's really not a big deal. Most professional drivers couldn't care how you live your life as long as you're courteous and safe on the road.

The CB radio on the other hand may have negativity. Unfortunately many drivers find it acceptable to spew BS on the radio they otherwise wouldn't say to your face. Don't let it get to you. They're so miserable with their own lives the only enjoyment they get is when they can make others as miserable as they are. We typically advise turning your radio off at truck stops anyways.

Hello Old School,

Thank you very much for your kind reply. The information you have shared is very informative and helpful.

Most of all, thank you for the link to the list of companies offering paid training. That will be very useful. I sincerely appreciate it so very much.

Kind regards,

Nick S.

“Happy Trucking!” :-)