(NewsNation) More women are hitting the road as truck drivers and finding freedom along the way. <\/p>\n
Women made up over10% of over-the-road truck driversin 2019, thats an almost30% increase from the previous year, according to a study byFreightwaves. <\/p>\n
For some, its a dream come true. <\/p>\n
When I was a little girl, my father and I would go on trips, and Id see these big trucks going down the road. I told myself, one day, Im gonna drive one of those trucks, Vanita Johnson said on Morning in America. <\/p>\n
Johnson is a Class A CDL driverand instructor. She says the pandemic pushed her to make her wildest dream come true. <\/p>\n
I had just got my teachers certificate. So I would have been a first-year teacher teaching sixth-grade math. And COVID hit and it was just totally overwhelming. I did not want to do my students a disservice so I resigned, Johnson said. <\/p>\n
Now, Johnson owns her own business. <\/p>\n
Im an owner-operator, I now run a business. Its my business, she said. <\/p>\n
For Carla Holmes, truck driving was a career pivot she says she didnt know she needed. <\/p>\n
I was OK with living the rest of my life paycheck to paycheck, and today I dont live like that. I dont have to live that way, she told NewsNation. <\/p>\n
Holmes said a two-week trip in her husbands big rig helped her change the course of her life. She said she was a case manager at a drug facility before entering the industry. <\/p>\n
She told her husband, If Im gonna be in the truck with you, I want to make money, too.<\/p>\n
After five months of school, she earned her commercial drivers license. <\/p>\n
The women say theyve found freedom in the ride. <\/p>\n
Its a lot of freedom, Johnson said. <\/p>\n
Holmes adds, I love it. I get to see the country, I get to travel the country, I get to go to all kinds of states. I see so many sunrises and sunsets and just beautiful scenery. <\/p>\n
They say trucking has provided a level of financial freedom they didnt think was possible and encouraged other women to jump behind the wheel. <\/p>\n
Women in Trucking President and CEO Ellen Voie stressed that the industry has evolved significantly over the years from safety to work-life balance, saying, This isnt your grandpas trucking industry anymore.<\/p>\n
The industry has changed a lot, theres so much more technology on the trucks that makes them much safer, makes it much easier to operate. Also, the pay is the same whether youre a female or a male, it doesnt matter, the pay is the same. Because youre either paid by the hour, the mile, the load, Voie said on Morning in America. Companies are really doing a lot of work to get drivers home, so much more. So work-life balance. And there are jobs where you can like haul trash or you know, make deliveries during the day and be home at night with your kids.<\/p>\n
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