Female Truck Driver Safety

My family has concerns about me be safe. Not only driving but at truck stops, along the highway and staying by myself. Btw I am a female. Tell me what you guys think. Is this something I need to be concerned about? Do I need to carry a gun for safety?

Im a female getting ready to start driving and most companies will not let you have a weapon. So with that in mind I went and did the research and found a few companies that allow you to have a dog

I have only been solo for a little over a month, so maybe my opinion will change, but so far I have yet to ever feel unsafe on the road. I am 24 year old female

It's not any different than going around your home town. You have to be aware of your surroundings at all times. People that become victims tend to be the ones that look like easy targets. Don't look like you are an easy target. You can not be an easy target if you are aware of your surroundings. Do little things like not walking directly in front of parked trucks, move about 10-15 feet out. Turn around once in a while. If dark, carry a flashlight. A big one... LOL

There are a lot of small stature women on the road that have no issues at all. Also remember that chivalry in a truck stop is not dead. I don't care who you are, I was raised that you do NOT hit a woman and will step in if I see one in trouble. You are going to take a lot of flak just for being a woman in a perceived man's job but the ones that have skin thick enough and can shovel it right back tend to get the most respect.

My family has concerns about me be safe. Not only driving but at truck stops, along the highway and staying by myself. Btw I am a female. Tell me what you guys think. Is this something I need to be concerned about? Do I need to carry a gun for safety?

Personally, I have not seen a single incident where a woman was disrespected or taken advantage of for being a woman ... you DO have to use common sense but you already do that anyway, right? Guns (any real weapons) are a BIG no-no in almost every place where you will be picking up or delivering and some places don't like dogs all that much, but I've seen LOTS of dogs in trucks ... most of the time they are small "barkers" but that might be enough to make you feel safer ... in any case, most men have a built in protective response to a woman alone (alone as you can be at a busy truck stop) and will keep an eye out if he sees a women who might potentially be in a compromising position ... I've have had more than one woman ask me for help maybe backing (just spotting for them) or for some other type of information and I know that 90% of the guys out there have moms, sisters, wives and daughters so we WANT to make sure our complimentary others are safe and secure ... if you feel threatened, don't think it is just in your head - ask for help and don't think you are being a burden to anyone, heck there are lots of female trucker I WOULD NOT want to mess with so you don't have to just ask a guy ... you will be fine, just fine . . .

Jopa

Ever see what pepper spray does to someone? I may be wrong but I am fairly certain that you can carry that everywhere. I think the main thing to safety is being aware or your surroundings ( +1 Pat M) and try your best to be prepared.

Pepper spray isn't a bad idea, tazers are handy too. Also don't forget that you're gonna have a 3# mini sledge for checking your tires. One quick swing of that and people pay attention.

I have been driving solo for almost 4 months and have yet to feel unsafe. Men are very polite to me and I have had a few make sure I got their parking space when they were done with their 30 minute break. When I leave my truck I walk with purpose and make sure I know what is going on around me. BTW, I am all of 5 ft tall!

All the comments I've read by women truckers thus far have said that they have never felt unsafe.

On the other hand, I've been driving solo for 6 weeks now, and have had two incidents where I've called 911.

First time, I had brake trouble at a shipper in south Chicago. A shop worked on the truck until about 8 pm and then sent me on my way (no place to park there). I headed back to the trailer lot to hook up & get the heck outta there. It was in a rough neighborhood warehouse district. I was on a narrow, dark street when my brakes locked up again. A van came up behind me, pulled out around in front of me, blocking the road, and stopped. I thought "oh crap. this is bad." and got Chicago 911 on the phone immediately. What was probably minutes seemed much longer, but the van eventually left. I spent the night in my truck in that awful lot and afterwards had multiple people express the opinion "I sure wouldn't want to spend the night there"!

The other time turned out to be nothing but a great story - I was at a shipper in a tiny little town along a lovely river in NC. Not enough hours to get anywhere after loading, so they said I could park in a gravel patch across the street. I went for a nice walk, then settled in for the night. I was so happy to be in that beautiful spot, all peaceful and alone, when I heard "BAM!" from the back of the trailer. It was not a place where any other vehicle could come up behind me, I was backed up to the woods, so I wondered if the deer in NC are stupid enough to run into a semi trailer. "BAM!" again, and hard enough to shake the tractor. Well, I'm sure not going to get out by myself in the night to go see, so once again, I call 911. As I was on the phone with the 911 person, the "BAM!" and tractor rocking continued. I'm thinking "high school kids pranking me?" "crazy drunk dude?" . . . three officers arrived, and were scanning the woods, when "BAM!" it happened again. Officer asks me, "What do you have in that trailer? The noise is coming from inside. We're gonna have to open it up." "BAM!" Well, the officer came back and said that if they had not seen it, they would have never figured it out, but the compression straps that I had put behind the load were popping the sides of the trailer. Must have been due to temperature changes, and I probably pulled them too tight. The officers were happy as clams to have it be something so harmless, and said they wished all their calls would end like this!

All the comments I've read by women truckers thus far have said that they have never felt unsafe.

On the other hand, I've been driving solo for 6 weeks now, and have had two incidents where I've called 911.

First time, I had brake trouble at a shipper in south Chicago. A shop worked on the truck until about 8 pm and then sent me on my way (no place to park there). I headed back to the trailer lot to hook up & get the heck outta there. It was in a rough neighborhood warehouse district. I was on a narrow, dark street when my brakes locked up again. A van came up behind me, pulled out around in front of me, blocking the road, and stopped. I thought "oh crap. this is bad." and got Chicago 911 on the phone immediately. What was probably minutes seemed much longer, but the van eventually left. I spent the night in my truck in that awful lot and afterwards had multiple people express the opinion "I sure wouldn't want to spend the night there"!

The other time turned out to be nothing but a great story - I was at a shipper in a tiny little town along a lovely river in NC. Not enough hours to get anywhere after loading, so they said I could park in a gravel patch across the street. I went for a nice walk, then settled in for the night. I was so happy to be in that beautiful spot, all peaceful and alone, when I heard "BAM!" from the back of the trailer. It was not a place where any other vehicle could come up behind me, I was backed up to the woods, so I wondered if the deer in NC are stupid enough to run into a semi trailer. "BAM!" again, and hard enough to shake the tractor. Well, I'm sure not going to get out by myself in the night to go see, so once again, I call 911. As I was on the phone with the 911 person, the "BAM!" and tractor rocking continued. I'm thinking "high school kids pranking me?" "crazy drunk dude?" . . . three officers arrived, and were scanning the woods, when "BAM!" it happened again. Officer asks me, "What do you have in that trailer? The noise is coming from inside. We're gonna have to open it up." "BAM!" Well, the officer came back and said that if they had not seen it, they would have never figured it out, but the compression straps that I had put behind the load were popping the sides of the trailer. Must have been due to temperature changes, and I probably pulled them too tight. The officers were happy as clams to have it be something so harmless, and said they wished all their calls would end like this!

Deb, I am in Chicago a lot but I would never want to have to stay overnight there! We have a gated terminal in Gary which is no picnic itself, but I will stay there do my delivery the next day, and get the heck out!!!!