****** December 13 2009 ******* This Video was removed from You Tube along with the other one mentioned here called “Thank You Trucker Desiree” by Christy, whose Twitter tag is @NJKatwoman
She was contacted by Ellen Voie after the “Thank You Trucker Desiree” You Tube appeared and has receieved a “Women in Trucking” membership.
Christy sent me this file to repost because it has been a very useful tool which has brought others forwatd to speak up on various matters that have long been overlooked with regards to safety.
Mike Rone of @RMRConsultants is actually the person who has been working with Christy to correct some items on her DAC that should not be there. Mike & Linda Rone on Twitter are part of a growing group of concientious people in the Trucking Industry who actually care about other people. They reached out to Christy to begin the process to get her DAC fixed. Although their primary focus is D.O.T. Compliance for Companies they have been very kind to help out. You can learn more about them HERE
I’ve seen some critical words about @NJKatwoman on Twitter making this video & that’s typical in this industry.
What is NOT typical is someone taking the time to assemble an aid to inform others what truckers endure to do their jobs.
Its more common to see horseplay, gags & for others to put fellow truckers down, that’s generally why the non-trucking community have difficulty feeling compassion for truckers at all.
I have not been trucking long but I have seen that the Trucking Industry that takes advantage of drivers thrives because they can count on drivers bickering so frequently that they will never mobilize and cooperate to make effective changes therefore the name calling is a welcome diversion from industry leaders and companies.
What a great way to keep turnover going & create a false driver shortage!
If you have never HAD to team it is difficult to fathom how Frightening it is when someone else is driving you in a big rig and you are in a bed trying to relax and go to sleep. Esspecially when you observe them making other “Risk Taking” behaviours like exceeding their legal hours & driving sleepy & exceeding speed limit, tailgaiting & creating a hostile environment to work in.
If you cannot sleep during YOUR rest period then you are also now an Unsafe driver & that is also stressfull.
Now you KNOW that you are on a 24 hour Rolling unsafe situation under time constraints to deliver on time & that adds to more stress.
If you complain to the company, you are “labeled” difficult.
Sleeping should not be considered a luxury in Trucking.
I appreciate @NJKatwoman on Twitter for making this video to help educate the public & asking for other stories.
My Student Trucker Story has several Co-Driver situations, all different but meant to show how Unsafe this can be. Driving under duress or exhaustion from stress is NOT Highway Safety
Dear Desiree:
I cannot thank you enough for your understanding and support on this issue! I have endured abuse from men in the past…this man had me to the point of being afraid to even open my mouth to talk to him. In fear in the bunk, and that old fear came back…”feeling trapped”. I knew by the end of the first week out w/ him, that I did not want to team w/ him again. He’d be falling asleep while driving, (the rumble strips would wake me up, plus he admitted it to me a couple of times). When you drive “team” you have a responsibility to that other “entity” in your truck, to drive safe, to be considerate. You don’t drive for 13/14 hours, and expect your team driver to sit, awake for 6/8 hours before you “allow” them to drive.
With 8 out of 10 women admitting to being abused in the past, we deal with this kind of situation much differently than another male co-driver would have dealt with it. As a matter of fact, I’m sure my ex co-driver wouldn’t dare to treat a man the way he treated me. I personally know a woman who drove team w/ him for a month. She can verify everything that I have said about this man.
But to my credit, I tried. Even though I had this bad experience, I will keep an open mind, and would run team again…I can’t believe that ALL men are of the same caliber of “jerk factor” that my former co-driver was.
Dear Christy:
I saw other Women privately express that they had past situations that made them hesitant to react.
No one wants to wear their heart on their sleeve and have to discuss old wounds to quantify WHY they want OFF the truck.
Some psychological triggers may be set off for a Women who was previously in a violent situation from Childhood or from a past Relationship from hearing some strange man yelling a few feet away.
What may be logical for one person may not be for another. There is plenty of evidence to support that these situations do escalate.
Even in the case of having to wake up one of my co-drivers who slept like a rock. I worried I might get socked from having to shake this persons arm to get them to wake up and drive, that is from a past experience of mine.
One co-driver I had drank A LOT when we were in-between loads and would return to the truck very drunk at 2 or 3 am when I was sleeping on the top bunk. That made me uncomfortable also, I don’t know this person, I don’t know their temperment, I don’t know if they blackout.
What I did know is I could NOT trust my own company to target me if I reported him because I was targeted from day one as a troublemaker for reporting the first “Incident”
I kept quiet about many things as do most Women for fear of retaliation or Ridicule …..and much of it from other WOMEN.
That is why Women truly are the last minority, they seem to think it’s a bad thing to support one another and some sort of Anti-Man Campaign.
Real Men Do NOT need a captive, or someone to belittle.
That goes for Real Women also.
Christy,
When I first saw your video I was enraged to visualize (through your explanation of events) a typical bully, exercising their control and pseudo-authority, by yelling, intimidation and just outright selfishnessness. You’re right, he would NOT HAVE treated a male driver tthat way because he knows he’d get his ass kicked!
Next I’d like to touch on another sickening point. The fact that others would criticize the video when they’ve never even driven team and don’t have a clue. I can’t stand people who just like to listen to themselves talk, judging others, just to make themselves look like they know so much!!
Here’s a Clue all you know it all’s:
If you’ve never been in the situation then Don’t offer your inexperienced opinion or rude comments just to show the world how big and tough you are.
Finally, I’d like to address Desiree and say “AMEN” to the fact that the industry DEPENDS on truckers fighting and bickering among themselves, criticizing one another for attempts another does to improve the industry. This is the trucking industry’s “Ace in the Hole” I can just hear them, ” Just sit back boys, we don’t have to do anything, these truck drivers will destroy themselves for us” as they laugh.
Allen wrote an article about a month ago called,
” The Truck Drivers Worst Enemy” It describes just what Desiree said in her post here. It had a lot of reads over at ClassA drivers forum as some one over there posted it… and a lot of folks got it!
So, before you all decide to criticize a fellow driver about a situation you know nothing about, think a minute, the very industry that you moan and groan about is the one you are supporting when you do it.
It’s normal not to agree with someone, but say it in an intelligent and constructive manner, instead of just wanting the world to know how much more tough and great you are compared to the one who has just poured their heart out.
There’s problems in this industry. For God sakes lets stand together and show a little compassion and support for one another.
Join Desiree, Allen, Tracy, myself and hopefully Tom Hansen on our next Blog Talk Radio Show which will discuss the SOLUTIONS to many of the abuses going on in CDL training and team driving.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/truthabouttrucking/2009/12/04/truck-driver-training-solutions
keep checking the time of the show as it needs to be confirmed with all the guests.
Well Done Christy,
Thank you for for your bravery and courage in showing what ‘really’ happens out there on the road to women who are trying to enter the transportation industry.
I hope that you will either find a solo job or be able to team with someone who has the ‘right attitude’.
Keep your eyes to the future and best wishes,
LadyTrucker
A well known ‘secret ‘ in the trucking industry is teaming up women with ‘bad’ trainers so that the women will ‘decide’ NOT to continue on in their desire to become drivers…..
and if the women are still determined …than after two for three trainers the women are label as ‘troublemakers’, job hoppers, unreliable, unable to ‘keep a job’……and ‘professional’ character assainnation starts real quick and the woman ‘can not ‘ get a job because she is labeled.
This industry standard developed by the ‘old boys club’ to keep women out of the trucking industry works very well.
LadyTrucker
GREAT POINT!! 10 yrs ago, my first trainer with only 90 days experience was sexually aggressive, was only in his underwear most of the time and when I tried to get off the truck I was threatened by my Mgr. A FEMALE!!!! They said I could either stick it out or face being terminated! We fell we have to “take it” and most of the time we do cause we have no choice. I did file a complaint wich was dimissed as unfounded. I’m sure I was labeled too. My husband and I even went to the corporate office and were pretty much laughed at. There’s nothing we can do, it’s her word against his… finding out late i was not the only one who complained and that there were even guys who had complained!!! We left that company as soon as someone else would hire us. Thanks to Christy and everyone else who has come forward. We are not a bunch of crazy, lazy, drama queen bitches that some seem to think we are. We are real people with real issues here! I am proud to be a woman in this business and proud that I do not fit the “mold”. I will contunue to wear make-up, dress nice, and be a “LADY” regardless of what people say. GOd Bless all of You!
WIT needs to re work the organizations mission statement if they really want to help women.
I also saw that Sandy Long attacked Desiree which made me wonder ‘why’ Sandy belongs to WIT…..obviously Sandy’s mandate is NOT to help ‘women in trucking’ but to support the growing attitude of the men in the trucking industry to keep women OUT of trucking.
Desiree has been courageous,putting herself ‘out there’ to tell the story of how women are really being ‘handled’ in the trucking industry and with the Trucker’s Rottweiler aka Sandy Long helping women leave the industry….WIT needs to look at who is representing the organization if WIT is truly ‘helping women’ to train and stay in the trucking industry.
LadyTrucker
I for one would like to say that when I was an OTR driver, I mainly ran team. I was lucky enough to be teamed up with professional trainers and drivers. I would gladly welcome a female team partner (if I were to ever go back OTR). We have a couple woment drivers where I work and I can honestly say they are better than some of the men!!
For anyone to post a negative comment or to belittle Christy for her complaints on a team driver who she felt unsafe with, without any knowledge of her experience or even ran team themselves is totally uncalled for. Even if you do have some sort of experience with a situation like hers, why would you want to make negative comments….one would think that you would feel compasion for her and have some understanding.
I have nothing but shame for all of you who made such comments….and for you Christy, I have nothing but love (in a fellow human being sort of way..lol) and mutual respect for a fellow driver. May brighter times bestow you Christy. God rewards those who deserve it…you SHALL be rewarded!! Take Care and God bless. Your friend –
Todd …aka…Newfieguy89
I wanted to add this link from some testimony I gave this past year for some Texas Legislation that became Law.
It plays into my Co-Driver Experience ans set off some emotional triggers I was not prepared for.
Here is the link:
Texas Bill HB2932 & SB 1558
The Newest Revelations about Ellen Voie of “Women in Trucking” who has a murky departure from “Trucker Buddy” as noted in my New Post “Support from Women in Trucking” is beginning to reveal that this Organization does not have REAL Women Truckers best interests.
Please Watch Ellen Voie in the “Bully in the Workplace” Documentry Preview and you can see that Ellen Voie isn’t just uninformed, … there is more to it than that… The Trucker Buddy information sorta of points to a pattern.
Another very sad story. I feel for this women (NJ Katwoman)
Unfortunately this situation is among so many of us. And it doesn’t have to be this way. As I have mentioned many times I think the trucking industry is both sad and disgusting. I am ashamed to be called a truck driver. I do not want to be a part of an industry that treatment of fellow humans is both normal and excepted. There are no excuses other then GREED. I can assure you I am not here to stay! Like so many others I am here only because of our economy. A situation out of my control for the time being.
Maybe we can all do a little something to help out Katwoman.
Thank you, Doitherselfer! I appreciate your good heart and trying to help me thru this very difficult time. At least I am not homeless for the holidays, and I cry for those who are. An “angel” gifted me a little cash thru my email to PayPal,
and it was a Godsend! I have always helped the other truckers, and even ZoeToots when she lost her job. Usually, I could only afford $20.00 or $10.00, but like I told my cyber friends and fellow YouTubers, if everyone sent five bucks, it really can add up, and keep the electricity on, or buy food for the frig.
If I don’t get a job in a month, I will be forced to sell everything in this apartment, I will try to keep my family memento’s and pictures, I was even looking at an old camper on Craig’s list so I don’t have to live in a van.
I am scared. This is not a good position to be in for anyone. All because I refuse to drive w/ an unsafe bully and NJ Unemployment has still not decided my fate under their “fact finding interview”. I’ve had no income for over a month. All I want to do is to go back to work, doing what I love. Thank you to anyone who wants to help me, your kindness will come back to you threefold!
God Bless!
Another very sad story. I feel for this woman. (Katwoman) Unfortunately this situation is among so many of us. And it doesn’t have to be this way. As I have mentioned many times I think the trucking industry is both sad and disgusting. I am ashamed to be called a truck driver. I do not want to be a part of an industry that treatment of fellow humans is both normal and excepted. There are no excuses other than GREED. I can assure you I am not here to stay! Like so many others I am here only because of our economy. A situation out of my control for the time being. (edited by Desiree)
** I understand that some donations have been made to help these Gals get a few things , like food and personal Items.
They are grateful and so am I to know people do care. I do not want to be responsible for any fundraising though so I have edited the emails at this time and I know that Christy is receiving assistance with her DAC.
Deb in Canada has at least got a roof over her head through winter. She has also experiencing some difficult times because she is a 50 something driver who cannot do the job she loves because of the Industry Method.
This is wrong!
They have no one to care for them and they are tossed off?
Christy may still need to find homes for 2 kitties and trade her Truck for a Van in case she becomes homeless while trying to get her DAC repaired and get back to work.
Mike Rone from @RMRConsultants in Dallas (his Twitter Tag ) said they are assisting Christy with the this, I hope I am correct in that, that was my understanding.
Mike and Linda Rone are concientious folks we have come to know on Twitter, who specialize in DOT Compliance and have regular Webinars. You can find out more about their offerrings HERE
I am going to post the other You Tube here made by Christy.
It was meant to Thank Me but she explains her situation which has made us all very concerned.
It also shows the confusion that has been created by Ellen Voie of “Women in Trucking” who has done nothing but cover up these Obstacles to Real Women Truckers trying to make a name for herself.
She is reading all of this though and has begun to refollow people on Twitter and pretend she gives a shit about something other than herself and trying to get her name in print or on media.
She is utilizing every shred of content she can lift from all of us and she is financed so SPEAK LOUDLY LADIES and MAKE ELLEN WORK FOR IT for a CHANGE!!!!!
Ellen Voie is a Saleswoman who is a Professional at taking credit for what other people are doing.
Here is Christy talking about what her situation is following the Co-Driver Issue. I spent time on the phone to hear more and must say, she is getting the shit end of the stick … I say that knowing there is more to ALL Stories but many of us came into this Industry to work independently and be individuals. Being a Woman with no family, a no one but yourself to rely on and knowing you are skilled to drive a truck but unable to be hired to do this job you know… that is a problem.
Click HERE to Watch
I edited the Paypal Plea for Christy by “Doitherselfer” because we did collect some donations to help out.
The following “Thank You Trucker Desiree” Video revealed Christy was in an urgent need of assistance but it also created a lot of confusion about me and Ellen Voie.
Obviously Ellen is in fact reading everything here and contacted Christy with Marge Bailey.
I will be watching to see what Ellen Voie will deliver or take credit for. There are 2 other Women who needs assistance with DAC issues to get back to work that seem to be retaliation issues, possibly the beginning of class action lawsuit which I am currently making phone calls to collect more information.
I am looking forward to hearing about Christy getting back to work so she can move forward with her life.
There is no reason I should have ever had to go this far to get Ellen Voie to do her job but I will continue to follow up because sadly Ellen seems to feel she is being victimized by being held accountable for the position she created for herself.
Actions speak Louder than Words.