Being in a truck for many hours, days, or weeks with a stranger is one of the training-related concerns that prospective students have. Over the road, vehicles are mobile wardrobes with bunk beds that truckers outfit with home comforts. You will probably spend time, whether you are doing a company-sponsored program or a local CDL school, spending 24/7 in a truck with a trainer or mentor. Life on the road may be terrible due to differences in personal habits, cleanliness, driving techniques, musical preferences, sense of humor, and political and religious convictions.
Do not let negative thoughts control you.
Often, a woman’s first concern is, “What if I have to drive with a man? What if he is an adulterer? What if he is an outstanding and respectable gentleman you would have passed over for a miserable, annoying woman? This is how I respond to such inquiries. What if you are too sexist to accept him even though he has superior teaching abilities than a woman?
Typically, this causes women to blink. Humans naturally assume the worst and have a fear of the unknown. You will not continue very long in trucking if you can not get above your negative thinking in all facets of your life.
I was intent on learning as a non-smoking, 41-year-old lady attending training provided by my employer. Males, sexual harassment, and trainers who smoke or do not smoke were all quite remote from my thoughts. I desired my CDL and wanted to prove my doubters wrong. I attempted to get as much information from the trainer I met at the firm who had previously had a student.
The guy suddenly touched my leg and made a sexual gesture toward me. I attempted to continue the conversation about trucks while looking him in the eyes and pushing him away. The guy kept talking, so I filmed everything he said on my phone and sent it to my firm.
He once attempted to frighten me into keeping quiet about him. Yeah, I see. This guy was fired, and I was given a terrific male trainer who smoked as a replacement. I did not say I would sue anybody. I did not have a crying fit. I kept moving toward my objective and trusted the business to solve the problem. It was.
I would have been giving the first guy control over my life if I had given him more consideration. Power over my mental health as well as giving him the ability to influence my life and profession. Why would I give a stranger the ability to ruin my mind or career for years for a few minutes of unwanted advances?
I also refrained from letting my encounter with the first man tarnish my expectations of the second guy. Thankfully, I didn’t. The teacher was gentle and amazing. We traveled about 10,000 miles in three weeks with my permission. Driving that large truck was an adrenaline rush, and the knowledge he taught me was priceless.
It is possible that I would not have discovered such a depth of wisdom or compassion if I had not gone with a guy. He acknowledged my annoyance and made an effort to assist me in overcoming the challenges of learning to operate that manual with the double clutch. In addition, I never once had any sexual discomfort around him. He changed his clothes on the bottom bed of the truck, and I changed mine on the top bunk. I would shout, “Alright, I am ready,” below. Are you? It is referred to as ordinary decency and respect.
He had no issues when I stopped the vehicle a bit more often during that period since I am a lady who still has monthly cycles. He seemed to be aware of the situation without asking, and without saying anything further, he provided me with Pepto-Bismol and ibuprofen. Then he advised us to stop and take a shower. That was not at all insulting and was extremely kind. He stated, “You can speak to me about stuff,” once. My responsibility is to make learning simpler for you. Wow! Such a dude! Yet, I believe some ladies would go ballistic if he said that my period was the cause of my illness.
What to Do If Sexual Harassment Occurs During Training
While being sexually harassed while in training:
- Get proof, such as audio or visual recordings.
- Record the incident’s time, date, and location.
- Contact dispatch or the security at your firm.
- If you write an organized and professional email, you will be pulled off the truck and handed to a new trainer to help you meet your objectives.
In our litigious culture, individuals often overreact to the smallest gesture and begin threatening legal action or prison time. While the delicate matter makes your heart beat, losing your fury will not assist your cause. If you can not back up your claims with evidence, it may come off as hostile or make others assume you are making things up. Be truthful in your assessment of the circumstance, and set reasonable goals. Rape, touching, and making crude jokes are all not the same. Are you truly in favor of firing a guy (or woman) for cracking a bad joke? Did that joke change your life forever the way a complaint may change his?
Be Smart
Contact dispatch or security if you experience discomfort while riding in a vehicle. If a guy grabs you, rubs you while you sleep, or makes unwanted contact, you must first ask him to stop. You must then exit that lorry.
In a complaint against one of the major carriers, a lady claimed that “the guy touched me as I was sleeping in a bed during the whole training time.” WHAT? After the first contact, I would have warned him, “Touch me again, and I will kick you through your windscreen.” The calf muscles are in my legs, too. After that, I would have written about Qualcomm. “Please assist! This is a toxic work environment because of the pervert trainer grabbing me. Please find me a trainer who will not touch my privates.
Always utilize Qualcomm when documenting everything that has to be in writing, whether it is about your training or delays due to bad weather. I would wager $100 that the truck driver would be told to pull over at the next truck stop so he could pick me up. It will be more challenging for the firm to believe you the longer you remain in a vehicle where you are being harassed. Why did it take three months for someone to come forward if anything was so horrific and devastating? And you still do not have any evidence of mobile phone-based audio or video recordings?
According to one report, despite seeing other male and female drivers from her employer at truck stops and clients, the female trainee was scared to disclose the violence she had endured. She said the trainer struck her behind and legs with such force that it left-hand prints and welts. However, she did not bother notifying the mechanics while driving through her terminal at night since she did not believe they could do anything about it. She was completely mistaken.
Guys naturally want to defend women. She would have been kicked out of the vehicle if she had shown her welts to anybody. The individual was likely detained and fired when the police were contacted. Although she kept it a secret, she still held the firm responsibly. She also believed that as a troublemaker, she would lose her job. Mistake again.
Never Be Scared To Speak Your Mind
I am aware that some people may read this and remark, “Oh, abuse victims have difficulty coming forward. They feel humiliated and ashamed. I can see why it could be tough for a beaten woman with three children and little money to escape the situation. But this is a commercial venture, not a romance. The lady owes neither the trainer nor even the business anything. She was responsible for defending herself, which she failed to accomplish by remaining in a predicament.
Well, I am sure that in that circumstance, my employer would have covered the cost of a rented vehicle for me to return to the airport. Whenever I read the piece, I wondered why she did not use her phone in the room where he could not. Any truck stop would never let him use the women’s restroom. Until dispatch arrived, she might have easily established a haven there. She never allowed the business to fix things and made no steps to do so. Yet, years later, she continues to hold people accountable and spreads this narrative online. Is that fair?
The Reality of Male Trainers
In actuality, many male trainers are more terrified of women than they are of them. Because of the distorted rules against sexual harassment, anybody may be accused of anything without meaning or knowing they were.
Example: When I shop at Walmart, I see two drivers from my organization. While they are unaware of my presence, I overhear their sexual talk. I may then file a complaint of sexual harassment with my employer. Is not that absurd? That type of circumstance diminishes the seriousness and honesty of harassment claims.
He once stepped up from his bunk and gave me on the top bunk a quick glimpse, according to another quote I saw online. Once. Whoa, he took a quick glimpse. Some women are vengeful, so they could not only make untrue claims but also phone the man’s wife, publish fake information online, and otherwise completely damage his name and family without providing evidence.
Moreover, some women entice the males into making approaches by seeing litigation against powerful corporations as meal tickets. I saw this happen when a lady wearing shorts with slits at the bottom poured a bucket of soap and water before leaning over the trainer’s vehicle and carefully washing it while flirting. Her clothes became stuck to her as a result of the water splashes. He went away without saying anything. And it is the ladies who are concerned about having a male trainer assigned to them.
The wonderful male trainers encourage women to report the improper, insulting ones because they reflect poorly on all trainers. Great trucking firms encourage students to report poor and offensive instructors to improve their employee lists and safeguard the brand’s reputation.
Unless the accusations are accurate, no one will be dismissed due to harassment charges. The whistleblower statute protects the accuser. Demanding evidence defends the accused. Since I began my career as a truck driver two and a half years ago, I have also worked as a trainer. A three-hour course on sexual harassment and impolite conduct, as well as how to interact with students professionally, was one of the first seminars I was required to attend.
The next presentation was an educational film and lecture from a group called Truckers Against Trafficking, which raises awareness of the sex slave trade and teaches viewers how to report such crimes so that women and children might be saved. And I am meant to think that trucking firms do not give a damn about women? I work at a firm where a guy has led the charge for this cause. Am I to assume that all males are scum?
My pupils and the new drivers I informally guide have benefited greatly from the counsel and guidance of that outstanding man trainer. I have explained to others several times how to deal with downgrades or downshifting in the manner he showed me. One of my close friends admitted to me the other day that a woman had taught her much of what she knew about trucking. I was thrilled to learn that he had me in mind. Does not he sound sexist? Would he have stated that if I had not learned what I did from that man’s trainer?
Report issues accurately and without delay
Women must act wisely and report incidents promptly and correctly. They must comprehend the boundaries of what is acceptable. Is it important to alert dispatch if the trainer cracks a crude joke but stops after realizing you were offended?
Ladies must determine if they can put up with this situation for another two weeks until they are alone or whether the driver is so awful that women should never ride in his vehicle again. They need to remove the idea of “man vs. female” from their brains since, in my experience, the males do not even think about it. Instead of working off over $50,000 in debt over the previous two years, I probably would have left trucking and gone bankrupt if I had maintained that antagonistic mindset. I could not acquire almost any trucking job I wanted without my current abilities. I would be unhappy as well.
Lastly, if you are a woman who plans to reject a male trainer, I kindly beg you to consider the following: What if a lesbian is assigned to you? Next, what? Would you tolerate a guy who is gay but not a woman? Are you going to reject a lesbian based on her sexual orientation and a man based on his gender? Does it not seem a little biased and sexist? Sounds like something you would not want to occur to you.