The other day while I was browsing through some different blogs I came across one that was patting themselves on the back for daily blogging and being the only female trucker doing so. Her exact words were:
I am the only daily blog on the internet, written by a truck driver, that has lasted this long. Most crash and burn after a few months or years; and if they even lasted for a few years, none of them have ever written daily. I am the only daily blog that combines trucking and travel. And I am the only daily blog that has lasted this long, and is written by a female truck driver.
Well, whoopee do!
While I totally give her credit for blogging daily because it does take commitment I will not give credit calling herself a Trucker. She is like so many other women out here that are only part time truckers and mostly full time “riders” while their husbands or boyfriends hold their hand on a daily basis. They rarely or never actually do much more than sit in the jump seat looking out the window while riding down the road in a truck or only drive when it’s a “Team” load and I’m just going to assume from the writing they do, they don’t know jack shit about a truck and wouldn’t get their hands dirty.
Most of these women have never drove a truck by themselves, nor could they.
Since I am the full time bottle washer here I thought I would list my daily activities while on the road in case anyone ever wonders where I have disappeared to. I know most of my readers really do know where I am and understand what it is I do, but just in case someone who sits in the jump seat of a truck most days wonders what it is that I and women like me who are out here trucking for a living, on their own actually do, it’s here in writing for them to look back on.
I load my truck, drive, eat, sleep, wash Rosie, unload, sleep, reload, drive, eat, sleep, unload, go home.
In between all of that while on the road, I fuel my own truck daily, grab quick showers, grease my own truck weekly, check oil and coolant levels daily, check tires and brakes on a daily basis, check air pressure on said tires weekly, do my own window washing, back my own truck into parking spaces and docks and do my own paperwork.
Usually this is done in 6 to 7 days with around 3600 to 3800 miles a trip.
When I get home if needed, I change oil on my own truck or help hubs with it if he’s not busy. Make any repairs on Rosie that need to be fixed before I go back out, and vacuum quick so she is ready to go next trip. Then I go get groceries for the week ahead, cook at least one meal a day from scratch, clean house, do laundry, do billing for both my company & Hubs trucking company, take care of our animals, mow lawn, garden, then put up my produce in the fall. I clean barns, ride horse, and I write here at One Girl Trucking in between all of that. Whew! I’m tired already!
If you like, you can keep up with me on my facebook page, I try to update it once a day or you can find me on twitter where I try to share a picture of a hood shot where I am or have been daily.
And lastly I wanted to give a shout out to a couple other women drivers that also blog, and do it all themselves too.
Check them out if you get the chance.
You can find Terry over at Road Rage and Gabby over at Gabs a Trucker
About Bethany
Wow… I absolutely LOVE this post and have just started reading your blog not long ago. Its women like you that make me proud. I’ve at least driven fire engines and drive ambulances all the time, but I’m not sure I could do what you do.
Good Morning Jen~ Thank you so much. I love your comment, and I have to say I have great respect for you. I have been reading your blog for a year or so and I can say I don’t know if I could do what you do either! It HAS to take guts!
Well said Bethany. Many don’t understand the hours it takes to REALLY do this job. We don’t spend 3 or more nights a week in motel rooms, we don’t hit every Welfare-Mart in route nor do we stop at every restaurant on the way. We go and go and go then finally get to stop and recover for a few hours just so we can get up and go again. But hey it’s a easy life just look at us sitting around all day right
Hi Dale~ Agreed. There are too many that ride around as though on vacation and either don’t take the time to do a good job or have no clue what it really takes. And that is fine by me, but please don’t compare yourself to what I do, because honestly there is more to it than most think!
I KNOW there is more to it than most think. But us few will just keep chugging along and hope that eventually Joe public will see the positive side of our industry.
Be safe on your local runs Bethany. Congrats on the son’s graduation and the other son’s marriage.
Thank you Dale~
What do you eat on the road? Do you bring food? Can you write a post about your daily meals? Im very curious. Its so hard to eat well on the road.
Hi Kev~ Sure I will do a post on eating while on the road! I totally agree that it is hard to eat healthy on the road. I usually cook a lot of my food and take it with, but I also keep some handy food with that is still healthy. I will work on that.
Thanks for the comment!
hi bethany, i love what you wrote to that ( only female driver out here ). you are so right about being on the road, but you didnt mention, scaleing every load, sliding tamdoms, dropping and hooking trailers, sitting at docks for hours at a time, breakdowns and sitting at truck stops waiting to get repairs done, not driving more than 11 hours a day and being on duty more than 14 hours a day, 70 hours a week ( i wish) try 18 to 20 hours for alot of days out here, 70 hours a week at the least, driving sometimes 13-15 hour days. crapy food, small showers, and waiting in line for showers, and laundry, i love trucking and i have been solo for about 7 years now, and yes i do everything myself also.
I AM SO VERY PROUD TO BE A TRUCKER. looking forward to reading more from you, just started reading your messages a few weeks ago, but i look forward to reading them. your trucking friend kelli ( moonlighter )
You go girl! I admire you and I am amazed at what you accomplish every day. By the way, yesterday our delivery driver (short haul semi) was backing into our dock, missed the turn, missed the concrete stanchion, and backed into our stair railing. It snapped, popped 5 feet up in the air, and almost hit one of us. It truly was an astounding feat, and his excuse was that the sun was in his eyes. Honestly, the sun doesn’t shine IN the dock. Sigh. And then today, different driver was complaining because he had to wait 15 minutes to unload so we could clear the ramp lift. We cleared it, not him. Sigh. I wonder how they would be if they tried (tried, key word) to your job.
Thank you Penny~ We all make mistakes, but it sounds like this drivers biggest was NOT getting out and looking. I have always figured I would rather look like a dip shit getting out and looking 15 times, versus not getting out and wrecking something. And for the driver complaining, he should be happy but I’m guessing if he was hung with a new rope that wouldn’t please him either! LOL
waiting 15 min for a dock??
thats an out rage did he have them crucified???
try going to a distribution centre that enforces time slots on drivers wont let you in 15 min early or 15 min late but can keep u 8 hours without so much as a word??
try doing my job where half ya loads are crane on or crane off u bust ya gut ta be on time for crane only to sit n wait for hours coz previous customer messed them round??
Can I come swap jobs with him
Appointments and then waiting 8 hours……you must have been at a Kroger distribution center!!!