Our drivers:
- Sherilyn Brosig | Independent contractor (Flatbed Solutions)
- Home base: Sioux Falls, S.D.
- Driving for 25 years, including 4+ years with CRST
- Lynne Crooks | CRST company team driver (with her husband, Don) for pharma (Dedicated Solutions)
- Home base: Hutchins, Texas
- Driving for six years, including 2 for CRST
- Patrice Fountain | CRST company driver for Williams Sonoma account (Dedicated Solutions)
- Home base: Mableton, Ga.
- Driving for six years, including three for CRST
- Tina Parmer | CRST company driver for Caterpillar fleet (Dedicated Solutions)
- Home base: East Peoria, Ill., terminal
- Driving 17 years, including 10 for CRST
- Ida Spates | CRST team driver (with her husband, NAME) for pharma (Dedicated Solutions)
- Home base: Boise, Idaho
- Driver for two years, all with CRST
What drew you to trucking?
Tina Parmer: I’m a third-generation driver, so I was following in my grandpa’s and dad’s footsteps. But really, I do it for the love of the road, and getting to meet and work with new people.
Patrice Fountain: I came from a family of truck drivers and travelers, so I’ve always loved to drive.
Sherilyn Brosig: I wanted to drive since I was six. It was movies like Smokey and the Bandit and shows like BJ and the Bear – and listening to my dad gripe about the Jake brakes outside our house – that made me fall in love with it. I finally realized my dream at 31.
“It was movies like Smokey and the Bandit and shows like BJ and the Bear … that made me fall in love with it.”
Can you describe a typical day on the road?
Lynne Crooks: I get up. Make coffee. Do a pre-trip. Then I hit the road. I love to drive, so I’m happiest when I’m moving.
Patrice: I start the day off with Bible reading and prayer while my coffee brews (I make great iced coffee in the truck). Then pre-trip while getting a stretch in. Delivery is painless and full of laughs with my regular receivers – it’s the best part of being on a dedicated fleet. Then congested roads and sun.
Ida Spates: I work five days on the road, then two at home. When it’s a driving day, after pre-trip, I’ll maybe run into a truck stop for a little while. Then I set my GPS, turn on my audiobook and get on the road.
Sherilyn: No day is typical. When it becomes typical, I will step down. Trucking is not routine and should not be taken with a routine attitude.
“I love to drive, so I’m happiest when I’m moving.”
What does work-life balance look like for you?
Sherilyn: Honestly, I rarely go home in winter, and my truck is my home. During the summer, I try to get home more. But push comes to shove, I follow the money.
Patrice: I’m off Saturday afternoon until Tuesday morning, so work and home balance pretty well. In my down time, I spend time with family, and I also spend time doing absolutely nothing. But I try to keep things separate: I don’t talk to certain family members while I’m on the road, and I don’t talk trucking when I’m home.
Tina: I’m out on the road six to eight months at a time. I usually take two to three weeks off per year during late summer or early fall to get on my trike or motorcycle to actually visit some of the places that have caught my attention while working.
“I usually take two to three weeks off per year … to actually visit some of the places that have caught my attention while working.”
Have you made connections with other women drivers?
Tina: When I first started with CRST, at the old Riverside terminal, I’m met a couple of ladies that went through orientation just before me – one my dorm partner and the other someone I hung out with. Today, both have become lifelong friends.
I’ve also met and trained quite a few women over the last six years as a trainer/mentor for CRST, and there are a few that I still stay in contact with.
Patrice: I am in three trucking groups on Facebook and two of them are just for women drivers. We have had meetups on the road and during home time for lunch or dinner.
I also ran relay for the bulk of my time here, and I met some awesome women drivers with CRST. We still reach out to each other and check in from time to time.
Sherilyn: I am pretty solo, but it’s good to see more women driving. There have been some women with CRST on the flatbed side who have impressed me. It seems like almost all the women I have met have been above and beyond.
One connection I have made is with my driver-manager, Paula. She used to drive and knows what it takes. She knows I am a pain but still manages to pull through.
Ida: I haven’t made a lot because I immediately started in the industry with my husband as my co-driver. But I’ve seen more women drivers lately, and it makes me happy. We’re stepping into this industry and helping close the driver shortage.
“I’ve seen more women drivers lately, and it makes me happy.”
Would you recommend truck driving to women?
Ida: All the time. It may seem intimidating, but it’s not really that hard, and the pay and benefits are great.
Lynne: I do recommend it for women, but I’d suggest you start young. My husband and I started later in life, and wished we’d done it sooner.
Sherilyn: It takes a special person, male or female, to stick with this job through the times and years. And it’s not something I would recommend for just anyone. But for me, this is the most peaceful. It is in my blood and soul.
Patrice: I feel like trucking gives women the opportunity to be able to provide a substantial income to take care of their families. Trucking also gives women the opportunity to travel, get paid to do it and also be an asset to the world by providing goods and services.
The advice I would give is to not give up when it gets hard. Even if you’re on a dedicated route, every day is different and requires much patience. Be alert, and aware and always think of safety.
Tina: I do recommend trucking for women, but here’s my advice: This is a lifestyle, not a job. You’re going to have long hours, rough roads, no bathroom or shower right next to your bedroom like at home. But you get to meet interesting people, make life-long friends and see different cultures. I wouldn’t change my life and experience for anything in the world.
What’s your favorite place to travel through?
Ida: My favorite area is north of Salt Lake City – the mountains are so beautiful there.
Lynne: My favorite is Kentucky, because I want to move there. But there are so many beautiful states, like Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio.
Patrice: My favorite place to travel through is Texas. They have amazing places to eat, with plenty of truck parking.
Tina: I love the northern Midwest and mountain states: South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho. Fewer people, not as much traffic. And the scenery is breathtakingly peaceful and beautiful.
Sherilyn: For me, it’s less favorite places than favorite times. When the fog is gracing the middle of the mountains, and the sun is showing through with the pink shades before it rises. The deep purple after the sun sets. The wildlife as I am driving around a lake. The cherry blossoms in spring. A beautifully frozen lake in the mountains. There is just so much.
