This Monday morning, Minnie Welch headed for her office...the cab of her semi-truck. It was a beautiful, sunny day to hit the road. But this was not a career she ever considered. As she told me, "No! Not at all. These trucks intimidated me!" But in 2001, she wanted to break out from a job with 4 walls. "You don't have to deal with a lot of people. It’s just you and the road and the tunes you like. Thank goodness for XM!”
Minnie is part of the latest and greatest trend in trucking. For the first time, women are approaching a double-digit percentage of truck drivers nationwide, in what had been one of the most male of professions. Paul Enos, the CEO of the Nevada Trucking Association says, "The driver door is open for women. We have some great female truck drivers here. There's even an organization called 'Women in Trucking.'"
And the industry is far more female-friendly. Linda Sutherland drives trucks for ITS Logistics in Sparks. She started driving in 1981, back when “there were no showers at the truck stops. They were strictly men’s showers and they had to close them off so you could get a shower." She says that not the case now.
Today, the American Trucking Association says female drivers have quadrupled in the last 15 years. Minnie believes it: "I'm noticing more women out there…a lot more women." And the job is easier than ever to get, after the training. Enos says, “If you come in with a willingness to work and have that safety mentality at the forefront of your mind, there is a job for you here."
There's a big reason why. Every sector of the economy is facing a worker shortage, but especially truck driving. Nationwide, the American Trucking Association says companies today are short 60,000 drivers, a gap that's expected to more than double in 7 years (174,000 by 2026). Though the economy's chugging along, veteran drivers are fast retiring, and not enough young people are taking their place. The supply and demand imbalance has driver wages rising at a good clip. Enos tells me, "We saw last year, truck driver wages went up nationally 18%."
Minnie and her husband both drive big rigs. She says, "Together right now we're making $110,000…and the year's not over yet."
With that, the interview was over. Minnie had a run to make: "Yup! We'll see ya!" And she was off to the great wide open…paid by the mile.
There is a good clearinghouse for available trucker jobs online, and they show 913 openings in the Reno area. We have a link below:
https://www.gettruckerjobs.com/jobs/search/Truck+Driver/Reno,%20NV
