People who are not in the trucking industry may think that being a trucker’s wife is an easy task, but they would be mistaken. A trucker’s wife not only has her house work, laundry, and other every day tasks of her own to do, she also has to be the one who pays the bills when and if she receives a check from her husband.
A truckers wife has to be the one to do the books and to figure out where the money is coming from and where it is going to go and to make sure she has a little bit to live on while her husband is away. A trucker’s wife has to mow the lawn, fix the car, and instantaneously become a plumber or an electrician. She has to be a mother and a father to the children, work a full time job, cook the meals, run her husbands errands, run her own errands, take out the trash and make sure things run as smoothly as possible while her husband is on the road. She has to keep an upper lip and a smile on her face while doing double duty for her husband and herself. A trucker’s wife has to
hold her head up high no matter the situation in good times and in bad times.
A trucker’s wife gets ridiculed by those in the general public who do not understand what our way of life is all about. She spends 75% of her lifetime alone, but still married to a man who loves to drive a truck --and the trucking way of life is not easy. She has to tolerate all the lonely hours of being away from the one she loves, and not having the home life that she once dreamed of and the security of a man every day of her life. A trucker’s wife also ahs to be a defender of her husbands profession and the life she lives. She has to make sure that her husbands mail is all taken care of and make sure that the company pays her. She also has to make sure the taxes are in on time, not to mention having a strong will and doing things a man would do normally on a day to day basis. On top of all this she has to protect herself, her home, and her family from intrusion.
She has to keep a smile on her face at the family gatherings and on the holidays when her husband is unable to be home enjoying a nice Thanksgiving dinner and a Christmas holiday. She also has to celebrate her wedding anniversary, birthdays and other special events by herself, and still hold her head up high with out getting down.
A trucker’s wife has to sit back and listen to him scream about the conditions out there on the road and with the shippers and brokers, and be a brick wall for her husband to lean on when he is down or mad. She also has to listen to him while he is griping about money and how much is this is and how much that is.
When her husband comes home she has to be there to greet him, wait on him, cook him dinner, wash an extra set of clothing, make sure his rig is clean, put up with him being tired all of the time and not wanting to go out with her when she wants to go out. She has to put up with, “Baby get me this, Baby get me that. I have been out there on the road and all you do is sit home and do nothing.” She has to be the backbone of not only the home, but also the moral support for her husband who is the backbone of an industry so little people know about and respect.
She has to put full faith and trust in her mate, not accuse him of cheating round or even think such thoughts. A Truckers wife also has countless hours of worry for her husband’s safety while he is out there on the roads. Every time the phone rings, her heart skips a beat thinking the worst has happened to her husband, especially in bad weather. Her eyes are glued to the Weather Channel watching where the storms are and were they will hit.
Being a trucker’s wife has its advantages and disadvantages. If you love your mate and are willing to accept this profession and deal with the daily trials and tribulations of the trucking industry, you will make it. To this day I do not understand why so many people think life as a trucker’s wife is such an easy one. Maybe they should trade a week of their lives with the lives of a trucker’s wife to get the real grasp of what being a truck drivers life is really like.
Debby is a contributing editor for www.infotrucker.com where you can find many more articles on subjects like truck driver job all related to the trucking industry.
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