• Truckers say they are taking extra precautions to alleviate safety concerns on the road.
• Cargo theft and crime against truckers have increased since the start of the pandemic.
• The non-profit organization Women in Trucking has found that the majority of female truck drivers do not feel safe on the job.

Jeana Hysell said she carried a knife, baton and 357 Magnum revolver with her during the 15 years she worked as a long-haul truck driver.

“It was illegal. It wasn’t the right thing to do, but it’s what I felt I had to do to keep myself safe,” she told Insider, adding that most truckers whom she knew also possessed firearms.

As the trucking industry tries to recruit female drivers to combat labor shortages, some women say they go to great lengths to conceal the fact that they are “a single woman in a truck “because of the hazards of the work.

And despite greater acceptance of women in the male-dominated field, five truckers and three safety experts told Insider that female truckers need to take extra precautions to protect themselves on the road.

“We face what every woman faces when traveling alone, except we face it every day,” 27-year-old trucker Trish Bennett told Insider. “I tend to do everything I can to avoid announcing that I’m a single woman in a truck. I keep my curtains closed and stick to the best-lit places. I avoid big cities the night.”

Different Ways Women Truckers Stay Safe

More than 60% of female drivers have felt unsafe on the job at least once in the past year, according to a recent survey of more than 400 female truck drivers by the non-profit organization Women in Trucking (WIT). Around 20% of respondents said they had been threatened with a weapon, while 4% said they had been raped on the road.

Current and former female truck drivers who spoke to Insider described protective measures they’ve taken on the road, including bringing a dog, a rape whistle, learning self-defense and carrying weapons like knives, tires and firearms.

Some drivers also said they made efforts to disguise their gender and avoid tight clothing, as well as taking extra measures like using makeshift toilets inside the truck, creating door locks with ratchet straps, and displaying “masculine” items on the scoreboard like baseball. Hats.

All five drivers said the most important thing was to be constantly aware of your surroundings.

Several truck drivers told Insider that they avoid parking in the “back 40s” of truck stops to avoid walking long distances through the lot alone. However, this is made more difficult by the lack of parking spaces available for truckers.

But truckers won’t find these strategies taught in on-the-job training or driving schools, Hysell, a former trucker turned safety consultant, told Insider. Instead, female drivers often rely on each other to learn realistic ways to prevent dangerous situations.

Bennett explained that trainers and instructors can be scarce.

“[Male trainers] I can’t tell you what to expect as a woman on the road,” she said.

Male and female drivers say truck stops can be dangerous

Compounding security concerns, cargo theft has skyrocketed since the start of the pandemic as overstretched supply chains and rising costs of daily consumer goods have made truckers easy targets. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics continually lists trucking as one of the most dangerous occupations for vehicle accidents and ill health, and cites a high level of violent crime against truck drivers.

“If someone’s planning to break into a truck, they don’t care if it’s a man or a woman,” said Walmart truck driver Carol Nixon. Two truck drivers told Insider they were assaulted and had their personal items stolen from truck stops.

“I’m very suspicious of other people when I’m on the road,” said 26-year-old truck driver Sally Feinen. “Truckers were known to stop and help people on the side of the road. Now we never know if they’re waiting to rob you.”

The majority of female truck drivers interviewed in another WIT survey identified truck stops and rest areas as locations with “significant safety threats”.

Although no federal law prohibits truckers from carrying weapons, including firearms, many carriers do not allow company drivers to carry weapons of any kind.

Feinen said his hauler doesn’t allow him to carry mass, meaning his only weapon is his truck’s tire beater, a bat-shaped wooden tool that helps a trucker check pressure of its tires.

“There are women who will tell you they’re always scared. And then there are women who say there’s never anything to worry about,” said Nixon, the Walmart driver. “We all have different experiences, different opinions. Overall, it’s still a great job.”