MEDIA CONTACT: Kristine M. Gobbo
561-463-0777, Kristine@spectrum-pr.com
REAL Women in Trucking, Inc. Launches to Advocate for Urgently Needed Industry Changes while Supporting Female Truckers
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (February 11, 2015) – The promise of a fresh start and great pay draws thousands of people, including many women, to become truck drivers, but fundamental flaws in the driver recruiting and training process are putting female truckers, and all drivers on major highways, at risk. A newly launched trade association, REAL Women in Trucking, Inc. (RWIT), is working to change the industry from the inside out, and seeks the community’s help to raise awareness and support for issues that put drivers in danger.
RWIT was initially formed in 2010 by female truckers to protest poor conditions that were not being effectively addressed by the trucking industry. The women found the driver training process to be a harrowing experience, as they received little training, even driving tractor-trailers without proper instruction. Worse, training often included being paired with drivers who verbally and physically abused the women, and made aggressive sexual advances.
One of RWIT’s founders, Desiree Wood, had such an experience and was ultimately left stranded far from home with little support from the carrier company overseeing her education. “I learned that my experience – which was extremely traumatic – was, in fact, very common. We believe we can change the industry for the better. REAL Women in Trucking raises awareness of misconduct and violence toward women, and builds a community of mentors and resources. We need everyone’s attention and support to make a difference.”
The grassroots, driver-led organization officially launched as a 501(c)6 trade association with a focus on supporting and providing information and resources related to women in the trucking industry. RWIT assists women – and all prospective truckers – in finding reputable Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) schools and training carriers/ trucking companies for new drivers. RWIT’s aim is to raise awareness and understanding of how poor CDL training poses a dire safety risk to the public, driver-trainers and CDL students seeking a new career.
RWIT is seeking women who have recently worked in training carriers or who have been trainers in the past to get involved as virtual mentors and encourages all members of the community to become familiar with the issues to be able to advocate for positive change to ultimately make the roads safer for everyone.
For more information, contact Desiree Wood at 561-232-9170 or info@realwomenintrucking.org, or visit http://www.realwomenintrucking.org , Follow RWIT on Twitter: @womentruckers.
– RWIT –
About REAL Women in Trucking, Inc.:
REAL Women in Trucking, Inc. promotes safety by educating the public about unsafe truck driver training and has created a network of support for women entering trucking. The mission of REAL Women in Trucking, Inc. is to empower the women of trucking and those entering the industry through outreach programs, continuing education, advocacy, mentoring, networking and ongoing support to promote retention, encouragement, and unity between both new and seasoned female drivers.
I’ve always enjoyed learning and teaching. Many facets of my life have involved teaching, from being teacher’s aids in junior high, & high school, to owning a computer tech support business, and other jobs where management assigned all new employees to be trained by me.
I love to drive, and although I have never elected to become a trainer (because I have too many belongings on my truck to have room for a trainee), I’ve always said that if I were to become a trainer, I would only train women. Most women that chose to become a driver have a strong desire to learn as much as they can. They want to know everything that a good trainer can teach them about driving that truck safely and efficiently. Many men on the other hand have an “I already know everything” attitude, are too insecure to admit they need help, and react very negatively when they find out they don’t know as much as they thought they did.
Dear Desiree:
Thank you for doing what you are doing in trying to let people know what it is like in being a trucker and especially for women who are thinking of making it a career in this ‘tough job environment’.
I have left you a couple of messages on your voice mail. You probably get a lot of response to your videos. Some negative but I hope you get more that are positive.
Put me down as ‘one of your fans’ because you have done a job that a lot of men couldn’t do and for that you should be proud of your accomplishments.
I guess you can be described as a modern day ‘one eyed Charlie’.
Have a good day and please continue in your quest of trying to make it better for all of the truckers in this country.
Sincerely,
Gerald
Hello Gerald,
Thank you for the comments. I did get your messages and appreciate your support and encouragement.
Sincerely,
Desiree