This makes me irrationally angry. My husband has been a professional driver since 97 and takes great pride in it. He thinks there need to be more women in the industry because they are more detail oriented and safety conscious. Shit like this makes the industry look worse than many think it is (oh god the classist…

That would assume that CRST gives a shit. I happen to live about 2-3 block away from their main campus/training area/blight. They hire themselves sketchy looking dudes by the truck load. While looking sketchy does not guarantee you are sketchy it certainly isn’t a good sign.

There’s an even simpler solution, and it’s one that a lot of municipal trucking companies are starting to put in place (like Waste Management.) Put dash cams in the trucks. Some of them only capture footage when they’re activated by a hard brake or swerve, to film an accident or near-miss, which would then prompt a…

That’s one mystery shopper experience I would need a big paycheck to do! It would feel great to catch these scumbags.

Better yet, get some cops to ride as fake trainees and put these shitbags behind bars. That’s police time and money better spent than arresting Joe Blow corner boy for his dimebag.

If the descriptions are accurate, there’s an inherent flaw which will cause them more problems than just harassment. Their evaluation process sounds like a black box that’s only really checked at entry and exit without ongoing feedback or observation. That setup is rife for abuse in terms of cheating, extortion, etc.

CRST is a pretty shitty company in itself.

One bad apple...crap behavior spreads like wildfire, especially once it’s seen as normal or at least condoned/ignored. It’s horribly amazing how quickly people adjust ever downward as more and more hideous behavior is displayed, rather then protesting against it.

But that does assume they give a shite - they don’t.

She’s lying. Some of the things she said aren’t true. Lie once, it taints the rest of her story. This deserves very little attention other than as a work of fiction or that parts might be true.

I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the norm. I was once involved in a car accident with a semi and, to this day, I wish I’d kept driving because the aftermath was 100x worse than the collision. Not only did the driver immediately get in my face and start screaming about what a “worthless little cunt” I was, but he…

Or that the woman is asking for “special” treatment by asking to not being treated like a fuck doll piece of meat.

No reason a woman can't go the strip club with the boys.

Take a look at the turnover rate, when you can only keep 10% of your employees you’re willing to let a lot of stuff go. What they need to do instead of keeping anyone who is willing to stay is to find out why they can’t keep employees and fix those issues. That being said they know why they can’t keep employees - it’s…

One of many solutions that would be possible if management had the will to change this environment. But they’re not just ignoring but condoning and even facilitating this harassment and these assaults.

That’s assuming the company wants to fix the problem though. The only way this would work is if it were a law-enforcement sting-type operation. To the company, because of the high turnover rate, the drivers who stay on, regardless of their level of psychopathy, are far too valuable.

Another would be to videotape all cabs (and bunk areas) during training periods. It’s really not hard to come up with 10-20 ideas that would significant reduce, if not eliminate this.

They shouldn’t need to, but trainees should have these.

Having worked for male dominated companies for most of my career, this sort of thing happens way too often. It’s amazing how the men who do these things deny them and are convinced that the woman was asking that sort of treatment. The levels of delusion and assumption are staggering.

Great article — depressing, of course, but thorough.