Congress has spent years addressing labor trafficking, worker exploitation, wage theft, unsafe transportation, cargo theft, and supply-chain vulnerabilities. What many policymakers have not recognized is that these issues increasingly intersect within one segment of the trucking industry: employer-controlled lease-purchase programs that classify economically dependent drivers as independent contractors.

REAL Women in Trucking President Desiree Wood recently participated in a StoryCorps interview for the Library of Congress to revisit the Covid-19 Pandemic effects on truck drivers. Her conversation partner and StoryCorps facilitator Latojia Dawkins asked Desiree about how she became an advocate for women truck drivers through her work at REAL Women in Trucking Inc. and how the newly formed Truckers Emergency Assistance Responders - T.E.A.R. responded during the early days of the Pandemic. By...

The purpose for the guide is to welcome new women to the trucking industry and provide authentic information they should have during their CDL training and BEFORE they choose a starter carrier.