Jennifer Kerrigan captures what life is like as a female truck driver and lets us in on a few thoughts she had while creating the photo essay.
Photo Essay and Introduction by Jennifer Kerrigan
Interview by Anna Meyer
The truck driving industry in the United States is notoriously a male-dominated field. Forty-five-year-old Becca Kennedy is an anomaly; at 5”3’, with her hot-pink nails, the Texas native has been behind the wheel of a 18-wheeler truck for the past 15 years. Her route is mostly along the east coast, with deliveries sometimes in the South, which leaves her a long way from home. The long hours, and months away from her three kids, contribute to the loneliness and isolation of the job. As a female truck driver, Becca feels she faces this separation even more. For her, the “boys-club” is real, as is the sexual harassment and discrimination she has faced. She has faced the trauma of assault, the frustration of lower-wages, and devastation of missing her children as they grow up. But she copes to make ends meet and support her children the way any single mom would. With a couple cartons of cigarettes, her 5-year-old Chihuahua, Chloe, and her pink-headset, Becca powers through her obstacles to do what she knows best — drive. This is a glimpse into her life as a woman truck driver, told in photos. (To see the full essay, head to Kerrigan’s website.)
The Riveter: Just 11.4 percent of workers in the trucking transportation field are female, and your series, ‘On The Open Road’ focuses on one of those female truckers, Becca Kennedy. When creating this series, were you hoping to increase visibility for female truckers?
Jennifer Kerrigan: When I started to pursue this story I was hoping to not only increase visibility for female truckers, but also break down any stereotypes that surround them. Becca and I talked in length about these stereotypes, and how she felt like people expected her to be big, mean or “masculine.” In fact, she’s quite petite, loves pink and is very sweet. We also talked about this “unknown” around truck driving, specifically to women truck drivers. She is constantly asked questions like, “Well, if you’re here, who takes care of your kids?” The answer is that she does, from the road. That was my primary goal of the project, to show that not only are there women working in the trucking field, but also to break down some of those negative stereotypes and answer some of those questions.
TR: As the trade association REAL Women In Trucking points out, the “… high turnover in entry-level truck driver training is occurring because of a broken system. … Women are at a particular risk because they are often misled into trucking with unrealistic expectations.” How do you think ‘On The Open Road’ helps to bridge the gap between the unrealistic expectations held by the general public about female trucking and the reality that Becca Kennedy and others actually experience?
JK: Becca is actually a member of REAL Women In Trucking, which is how I got in contact with her. I hope my project bridges that gap and shows that the job is incredibly lonely and that women especially don’t get a lot of support in the field. Becca spends months at a time away from her children, she’s faced severe discrimination, and has been sexually assaulted multiple times in the field. These are really important issues, that happen to countless women truck drivers, that other women going into the field should be aware of. Even further, the public should be aware of this so that some sort of systematic change can be brought about to make truck driving safer for women.
TR: What aspect about Becca’s life and her job surprised you the most while creating this series?
JK: I was surprised that she traveled with a dog! She’s had Chloe since she was a puppy and raised her as a truck dog, so she’s really well behaved. Becca told me she has always had dogs with her as a truck driver, because she gets very lonely on her own, and I thought that was really interesting that she has been able to train them and take care of them on the road. But whenever it’s dangerous on the road and dogs get scared, they can instead be left on services like local dog boarding WoofConnect.
Jennifer Kerrigan is a junior at Temple University studying photojournalism. In her time at Temple, she has been the Photo Editor at The Temple News and a photography intern at The Philadelphia Inquirer, a correspondent at the Democratic National Convention for The Idaho Statesman and the Temple DNC Bureau, and a creative marketing intern at Cantine & Co. in London. See the full essay on her website, and follow her on Instagram to see more of her photography.
Anna Meyer is The Riveter’s Editorial Brand Assistant. She is a Minneapolis native currently pursuing journalism and English at the University of Kansas. Her brain works best in the morning, when she’ll usually play Tears for Fears through her earbuds, sitting on the floor surrounded by her notebooks filled with scribbled ideas. Follow her on Instagram.
