The Women in Trucking Association reports that by the end of the first year, nearly 70 percent of newly recruited drivers leave the profession. Truck driving is one of the nation’s most deadly jobs, and staying safe is a chief concern. She estimates that trans women, in particular, are a sizable minority, possibly up to three percent of all truck drivers.Ĭompanies are recruiting at a faster clip than ever, but newer drivers in the field aren’t sticking around long. Over a three-year period while conducting her research, Balay spoke with hundreds of LGBTQ drivers. Anecdotally, Balay and other truckers Rolling Stone caught up with think the industry’s official numbers and politics don’t tell the whole story. There are no official statistics on how many LGBTQ people are in trucking today. Of the more than 3.5 million truckers currently employed nationwide, white males comprise 66 percent of the workforce, less than 6 percent are women, and more than 70 percent polled in 2016 said they intended to vote for Trump. Since the early Thirties, trucking professionals have hewed reliably conservative, white and male. There’s a kernel of truth to these cultural representations.
“I am very proud that Carla and I are showing people a different side of the trucking lifestyle, a lesbian relationship, two black women operating, and being OK with making it in America,” says Richelle.įilms in the Seventies and Eighties like Burt Reynold’s cult classic Smokey and the Bandit and Kris Kristofferson’s Convo branded truckers in the public’s imagination as macho modern-day cowboys on the run from the law and the humdrum of a staid life. They’re using their platform to break down stereotypes. They’re young women of color who host a popular Youtube channel with over one million views and 13,000-plus subscribers - most of whom are male truck drivers. Nic Richelle and Carla Grimsley are a married lesbian couple team driving a big rig with Prime Inc., one of the nation’s largest freight companies. LGBTQ truck drivers are not new to the profession, but their visibility and rising prominence within the industry is.
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