She came in first at the truck rodeo

By GLYNIS HART
[email protected]
SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — Although fewer than 8 percent of truckers are female, women drivers may be some of the best out there.

Black River Produce recently announced that Carolyn Russell, one of their truck drivers, won the company’s division truck rodeo in May and earned an expenses-paid trip to Florida for a national truck rodeo at Disney’s Epcot Center.

“They sent me and my husband and four kids,” said Russell. “We toured the Magic Kingdom.” 

The truck rodeo took place over four days and culminated with a company breakfast with the communications manager at Reinhart Trucking, which now owns Black River Produce. “They asked us to bring up every problem we could think of with the company, ideas about how to do things better, and they wrote down what we said and went back to management. It is a great company to work for,” said Russell. 

The truck rodeo, she explained, has several parts: a written test on rules and regulations and the history of trucking; a pre-trip inspection of a truck, in which the test takers have to find as many defects as possible, and an obstacle course. The obstacle course counts for two-thirds of the grade. “The closer you get to the cones, the better, but if you touch the cone it’s zero.” 

Two other drivers for Reinhart also placed in the national competition: Ray Carson from the LAX Division came in second and Jeff Falzon from the DET Division came in third in the five-axle class at Epcot Center. Russell said she got 23rd out of 79 entrants. 

Twelve years ago, Carolyn Russell was working the counter at Domino’s Pizza, thinking about a better life. She and her future husband Kurt both worked in the service industry: MacDonald’s, Domino’s. It was a good start, but it wasn’t a future. 

“I was watching all the delivery drivers — listening to their own music, getting all the tips — when I started to think about driving,” said Russell. “The Coca-Cola guy was a friend and we talked about it.”

But then she had her first child, and going on the road didn’t seem so appealing. 

“I pondered it for a few years, and had a few more kids,” she said. “I kept thinking, ‘someday.’” 

“Then I started thinking, ‘Someday’s just not showing up; maybe I should do something.’” 

With her mother’s help, she looked up trucking schools, and they found one in Columbus, Ohio. The four-week course culminated with her CDL (commercial driver’s license), and she did over the road (OTR) driving for a while. 

“I just couldn’t bear to be away from family,” she said. A friend who worked for Black River Produce encouraged her to apply there, and she got the job in March 2012. For two and a half years she drove a box truck. Russell is petite, and loading and unloading the trucks at first was a challenge. Soon, she got used to it.

“I had an easier time as a woman when I was green because people were more patient with me,” she said. Being willing to learn helped, too. 

“I had to learn to speak up, though, because the guys in the warehouses would think I was another office girl. No, I’m a driver.” 

For a while, the family lived in Florida, but a year ago they came back home, which for Russell is Claremont, and they’re planning to buy a home that belonged to her grandfather. 

What skills or talents help someone be a good truck driver?

“I tend to be more delicate and careful; I’ll slow down to avoid making a mistake. I’m not just going to throw something into gear if it’s resisting,” she said.  

“Being humble, patient, and willing to work,” said Russell. “Patience is really important, because if all goes smoothly you could shave two hours off your day. It’s a good day if I get home by 6:30! But if you get to the loading dock and someone ahead of you has a problem, you end up waiting.” 

Her husband Kurt has been a critical support. “If I didn’t have him, I don’t know what I’d do,” said Russell. “He’s been the number one caregiver for our kids. He works at home on computer stuff I hardly understand … It’s a bit of a role reversal, but it works for us.”