Women entering trucking are at higher risk of meeting obstacles that hinder their success because this male dominated environment is lacking in accountability.
Unethical behavior and misconduct is generally targeted at those least able to fight back, this is the obstacle I have seen most frequently for truck driver students, especially Women.
Sweeping things under the rug like sexual misconduct in truck driver training carriers has created a big lump in the rug. The CRST Sex Harassment case is an example of the ignored lump that eventually created a hazard so great many were harmed. While some claims may have been frivolous, some valid claims are sadly caught in the mess.
The failure falls upon the carrier who did little to properly train their trainers and the industry who looks the other way.
Truck driver training does a poor job to prepare student candidates to become qualified drivers. For females, the highly unusual expectation of the living arrangements can be dangerous.
With the recent rash of reports on the EEOC V. CRST Sex harassment case I was at first stunned that it took until 2012 for the Associated Press to widely cover this massive case, many of the incidents occurred in 2005. It has been sparsely reported on by mainstream media and mostly ignored by trucking media, including OOIDA , trucking radio programs on SIRIUS, publications widely distributed at truck stops where truck drivers might read about this case and trade publications that might make the industry more accountable by creating pressure from other sectors for carriers like CRST to clean up their act.
The recent barrage of reports note that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had filed a “friend of the court brief”. If you are not aware, the head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the former head of the American Trucking Association, if that does not SCREAM of politics I do not know what more one would need.
Perhaps, this story is all over because some other industry with as much clout as big trucking wants to rattle some cages? Maybe they could care less about Women or the EEOC case. Maybe it’s merely a power struggle between big rail and big trucking OR big labor and labor crushing, I don’t know but it is an issue that should be addressed.
Just 3 days before the AP broke this story, Ellen Voie the self-appointed corporate apologist for big trucking thanked CRST for renewing their corporate membership yet I received a letter from a CRST female student in distress just a few months back. I was also advised that remarks in court documents about an internal CRST crisis line which was somehow the remedy for their “issues” was no longer being used.
Ms. Voie appeared in the workplace bullying documentary in a segment called “Raw Sound Bytes from a Trucking Convention” and explained that the women of the CRST case only wanted to be part of a lawsuit but also stated she had never spoken to any of the Women.
So here we are in 2012 and the achievements to move beyond the CRST sex harassment case have been limited to the following:
- The non-profit WIT organization has applied for federal grant money to establish an external crisis line to protect females from their corporate sponsors.
- The President of that organization has doubled her salary in a year when most people are lucky to have a job.
- A WIT tattoo party was held so the non-truck driving President could brand herself with the organization logo for you tube.
- The super-secret anti-harassment guide has been dangled out as a prize to be won to only the highest level of corporate members.
This less than serious approach to correcting just one issue in truck driver training makes it seem as though the safety of women entering trucking is only available to the highest bidder.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce put in a good word for a carrier whose unethical practices towards both genders are legendary among truck drivers and this only serves to show how far up the food chain these people are willing to go to not take action on their dirty house.
Rather than provide more freebies from government assistance why not demand some accountability from truck driver training carriers? I can name three that I most frequently receive the most complaints about for sexual misconduct during the training period.
Here is some information truck driver training that students of both genders are not educated about when they enter the industry:
- Women are targeted for recruitment but most likely they will encounter highly intimate living situations with a Man they do not know at some point during their training for which they are poorly prepared.
- While not all Men become sexually abusive many do become frustrated in such close quarters either due to the demands of training or cultural beliefs and may lash out in other ways when a female student is present on their truck.
- There is a high stress level in truck driver training for students who are generally poorly prepared by CDL Schools and for the trainer who is aware that a poorly recruited candidate is a risk to his/her life.
- The climate and lifestyle for over the road truck driver training puts the student in a disoriented environment which is effective for a predatory or control freak type personality. For this reason, truck driver trainers should have personality testing and background checks for violence against women or sexual crimes.
- Carriers that receive any government funds in the form of subsidies, tax credits, exemptions or workforce investment act vouchers for tuition should be held to a higher standard as it is the taxpayers funding the mythical truck driver shortage which never ceases and produces few qualified truck drivers.
- Misleading truck driver recruiting advertising such as “…make $74,000 in a little as 6 months” which are generally the bait to lure someone into high-priced truck driver training programs should be ceased.
For Women entering trucking there is cause for concern when carriers offer little if any sexual harassment training in an environment where people from all socio-economic backgrounds are expected to live and work together with little supervision.
Who has the power to control of the situation?
Good training is currently a crapshoot and this is unacceptable for a job where people are risking their lives and operating heavy machinery on public highways.
The harassment issue in truck driver training is complex because it has not been intelligently addressed and it most definitely should not be for sale or in exchange to the highest bidding sponsors.
There are numerous reports of screaming, yelling, isolating female students to break them down, throwing Women off trucks and leaving them stranded, violence and rape. There is also the woman scorned.
What many do not understand is that some Men live a double life on the road and many Women are not prepared for this type of isolation and sometimes manipulation associated with training.
If a Woman does actually get a good Male trainer that teaches well there are times the female may romanticize the situation and initiate sex with the trainer. A properly educated individual should know to remove themselves from a situation or risk losing employment and understand potential repercussions.
In corporate environments that are responsible and who employ intelligent sexual harassment training this is taught but it is nearly non-existent in truck driver training carriers.
The professionalism lies on the shoulders of the carriers and their trainers whom they put in trust to disoriented students who are not familiar with the trucking “lifestyle”.
Street law often prevails which is “You snitch and you are gone”; this ingrained retaliation for reporting harassment in truck driver training carriers is why this industry has evolved very little.
Recruiting naive people is the mainstay of the student truck driver industry. Covering up, blaming the student, blaming the victims but common sense should tell anyone that such an enormous turnover rate indicates poor leadership on an epic scale.
Here is an actual scenario:
A Single woman attends orientation; she has no money and arrives on the greyhound with all her belongings in boxes. A representative of the safety department who was formerly employed as local law enforcement observes her and follows her to her motel room. He makes his way into her room, drops his pants and tells her to perform oral sex.
When a Woman carting her belongings in cardboard boxes would report a situation as described above whom would you be inclined to believe?
Truck driver training carriers have little accountability for their turnover, their accidents rates and the conduct of training with female students. CRST is simply one of several that the American Trucking Association and its “associates” have protected from being held to a higher standard.
The transportation industry is changing and we need you. (***Edited for spammy trucking recruiting ads that lists some of the usual suspects who are offending carriers and organizations***)
Your’e right! It is changing and mostly because more truck drivers are speaking out using social media to educate the public and those who actually care about safety. Your spammy comments have been edited with the reasons why. When recruiting sites do not check out what carriers and organizations they link to it negates the credibility of the other carriers and organizations who actually value qualified drivers.
Maybe you should put forth some effort in revamping your site rather than spam mine with recruiting links
Trucker Desiree,
I thought I researched this “trucking” business enough ….then come across your post(s). I just received my email with the Greyhound ticket info for this Sunday night…….now I have second thoughts……big time….
What carrier to you sign on with? If you want to write me privately that would be better and I can tell you what the word is on them. My direct email is truckerdesiree@gmail.com you should check out not only my you tube but those of other drivers you are talking about truck driver training carriers they have been scammed by. Remember that it’s not that you cannot make it in one of these bad carriers, it’s just you need to protect yourself by documenting things before they pile up. Hindsight is 20/20 and most fail in truck driver training from a “death by a thousand cuts” that they could have prevented if the documented properly and fought back in the right channels. Make sure you check out the post on http://www.realwomenintrucking.com called “Letter from a Recent CDL Graduate” , her experience with CRST was in 2011, just a few months back but she did make it through. I wish you good luck… Desiree
Thank you Desiree, for the shoulder when I needed it, for the strength I lacked, for opening my eyes (if not my mouth) about just how rampant sexual harassment and sexual predators are in well known carriers. Ladies I don’t care what the courts say or the EEOC. I was victimized by my trainer at Con-Way. Isolated, controlled, manipulated, then assaulted, and sexually assaulted while injured. In the end I end up with a busted rib, and a torn rotar cup that needs surgery to fix, and can’t drive a stick, because I fought back. Although Con-Way did fire my trainer, he is still driving with another company and he is a predator. I couldn’t talk about it because of the shame and humiliation. Not to mention the threats…I have since gotten legal counsel and will fight this. No one has a right to do this to another human being and get away with it. These big Corporations do not enforce sexual harassment laws, they do in fact cover them up and further victimize the trainee. Ladies we need to speak up and speak out and let them know this is unacceptable and we won’t tolerate it!!
Thank you for having the courage to speak out. I know your incident occured just last year and the recent call I had from another female were just a few months back. This continues to be an ongoing issue that continues to be covered up. The is no real victory yet for women entering trucking experiencing this violence except that the word harassment has been finally published in a few trade publications where drivers & executives can no longer pretend it is not happening under their watch. Please keep us posted on your battle & know ww stand behind you in your battle.
Desiree
It has taken me nearly a year just to be able to talk about it openly…There were 3 other women this man did this too before me….If they had spoken out it wouldn’t have happened to me….If I speak out maybe it won’t happen to another…..You were right…I had to find the courage to speak out…..Hugzzzzz
[…] report harassment, sexual misconduct and hostile treatment remains an issue in 2012, even in post CRST Sex Harassment scandal. Unethical truck driver training carriers must be defined who continue to allow these issues to […]
Desiree, it’s great to see current involvement by you now in this ongoing crime scene. What I would like to see is participation by the PTDI – the Professional Truck Driver Institute which certifies truck driver schools. Instruction to male and female students as to what constitutes sexual harassment in a trucking situation, and what specific steps should be taken by victims, and witnesses, should be a required part of the curriculum, along with case studies. Helping people to know how to protect themselves before they are vulnerable for their livelihood, and their lives, at this early stage, would work its way through the whole industry. It would also put carriers on notice, that their laissez-faire policies will no longer be tolerated.
Thanks for the comment, I too would like to see more involvement by the CDL Schools to better prepare female students so they can protect themselves but from what I have learned about PTDI it is merely another trucking industry “Buy a Logo, Be in the Club without Accountability” operations. It really means nothing. A good CDL student can emerge from a crappy CDL school without affiliations and vice versa. The entire student training system remains like a 3 ring circus so the sexual misconduct issue is really only one component. No one wants to deal with any part of the fraud that occurs in student truck driver training so they esspecially ignore this issue with females entering trucking. EXCEPT FOR SHOW, these people have no problem selling sponsorship without evidence of delivering anything to demand accountability on the topic of violence against women entering trucking and many are too complacent to check this out before purchasing a sponsorship that says they care about this topic. Check out the post over on http://www.realwomeninttrucking.com about the qualified truck driver shortage 2012, Thanks, Desiree
I am a man who believes that no one has the right or good ole boy previlage to abuse anyone! I am with anyone who will stand for fair and equal treatment.
Thank you Tiger I for one appreciate men (and women)who have higher morales, that won’t stand for anyone to be abused. I went to a great CDL school where the owners became like a Mom and Dad, there was never any problems there. I came out a driver, I am a good driver. I didn’t start driving because I was looking for a boyfriend, I wasn’t. I needed money just like every other driver and I know how to protect myself but not in the situation I was put in. Now I’m just looking for my own truck so I won’t ever have to get back into truck with a trainer!! I want to get back on the road so bad, but the minute they mention trainer I have anxiety attacks…thank you for your statement, all any driver wants is mutual respect and equality… Unfortunantely in my experience I found the trucking industry is the meanest, nastiest, most dangerous industry out there for women and I was in the Army and not treated this bad.
Dreamwalker Mejorado tells it straight. But realistically, the economy, and the banking industry (any security in getting a truck loan?) — make everything so fragile that taking the plunge as an owner-operator, getting your own authority, your own insurance, your own repair fund — talk about hoops to jump! Also, the long-awaited Mexican semis are in the wings to scoop up the whole business. Anyway that is the larger plan, and some U.S. carriers already have Mexican fleets. Since my own CDL has now expired, and I am 61, this gal is probably going to be a “Dreamdriver” the rest of my life. But if there were a way to get back in the driver’s seat, I would take it. What a fantastic job, if the process wasn’t such torture. PTSD, right? The great CDL school you mentioned would be a good contact. Is there any way you can pass on the name and location?
The Following is a Copy and Paste from and earlier CRST post I made on this blog several years back but the comments are about CRST 2012 made by M.S. Gann. I felt the would be helpful for people currently seeking information on the carrier CRST to understand about this carrier:
M.S. Gann wrote>> “I just left CRST this past saturday,their recruiter named ED told me as a lead driver/trainer I would be driving around 7500 miles a week with a trainee and their bridge insurance would cover my wifes prescriptions,as it turned out in the 2 weeks I was there my trainee and I only ran a little over 3900 miles of which I will only get paid for half or about 1800 miles. My wife went the other day to get her fentinal patches she must wear every day for pain,under the bridge insurance thse patches were going to cost us $400.00 OUT OF POCKET for a months supply.I had to leave CRST because of the low miles and the out of pocket expenses for my wifes medical prescriptions.I have been in trucking almost 24 years and I have to say CRST has a pack of liers working there.I can see why they have such a big turn over rate.thank you.”
I have been driving for over 18 years. I started back in 1996 with CRST. The first “trainer” that they gave me was a 6 month rookie. He went on home time then they gave me another trainer. The second trainer had over 30 years experience. I got trained right and learned to do things the right way. Fast forward 12 years… I went back to work for CRST in March of 08 and became a trainer, because I was tired of rookie co-drivers, and if I was going to train somebody, I wanted to get paid for it. I never had to train a female student, but if I had to I had the “introduction speech” already prepared. It would go a little like this…
“I am married, and do not condone any type of inappropriate behavior in this training environment. I am here to teach you, and you are here to learn. Professionalism is expected, and any type of sexual harassment will not be tolerated. Any questions?”
I quit working for CRST in October of 08, and went to work doing more local driving so I could be home more often.
Women can be just as bad as men when it comes to the harassment issue. And yes a man can be raped, I could go into the anatomical reasons that would make it possible, but that would be too off colored, and off topic. I love my wife and would never do anything willingly to violate that trust. Just because there are differences in the tactics of the two genders does not make sexual harassment acceptable no matter if you are a man or a woman. I don’t care how muck “skin” somebody shows, if they can’t pass the tests and become a safe driver then they should either get more training, or find a different career. I have a great deal of respect for lady drivers in this industry and all of the crap that they have to put up with.. They do a good job, and are often times more well organized then us men are. I’ve tried to talk my wife into driving with me, but due to her back injury that she suffered when she was a cop, she can’t take the long hours of driving. But she does enjoy riding with me in the summer. I remember being at a customer in Ohio for three days, and they only had a mens restroom available for truck drivers. I had to guard the stall door while she used the restroom.
The other issue that I wanted to touch on is parking. There needs to be more safe parking, and some kind of leeway on the e-logs to address finding a “safe haven” if you are stuck in a situation where you cannot find a parking space in the allotted time. Like I said before I started driving trucks back in March of 1996. A lot has changed since then, Many of those changes were not for the better. Can any of the new drivers even read a map? You know you are old school when you can remember your gps being a Rand McNally Motor Carriers Road Atlas, a pocket full of quarters, (or a calling card), a payphone, and a note pad. We used to have to call the customer to get directions, write them down, and just pray that we didn’t miss a turn going in.
Hi Eric,
Thanks for your comment. You are correct, sexual harassment definitely both ways and there are cases of men being raped by other men. A predator is a predator and they can be of either gender. Good trainers quit because of bad students and sometimes it’s women who do not enter trucking to work. You bring up many issues we talk about frequently on the Women Truckers Network Blog Talk Radio program. There is so much that has not changed much in decades, truck parking, treatment of drivers, facilities at shippers have improved but the training continues to be particularly unsafe both personally and mechanically at a handful of big carriers. That is why we have gone ahead to file our own formal procedure to create a driver led organization called REAL Women in Trucking, Inc. I hope you will support our mission. Be Safe out there driver. SIncerely,
Desiree