On this episode of the Bespoke Parenting Hour, Julie talks to Ina Daly, a mom, grandmother, and a 38-year professional truck driver who has accumulated over 3.5 million accident-free miles. Julie and Ina discuss her unconventional career path, how she juggled being on the road while being a mom, the importance of having a support system, and how she enjoys being a cool truck-driving grandmother to her grandkids.
TRANSCRIPT
Julie Gunlock:
Hey everyone. I’m Julie Gunlock, host of the Bespoke Parenting Hour. For those new to the program, this podcast is focused on how parents should custom tailor their parenting style to fit what’s best for their families, themselves, and most importantly, their kids.
Joining me today is Ina Daly. She has been a professional truck driver for over 38 years and she’s accumulated over 3.5 million accident-free miles. That’s really impressive. She drives for XPO Logistics and has been with them for 37 years. Boy, they must be a great company. Ina has completed the Arizona State Truck Driving Championships 27 times and the National Truck Driving Championship 14 times. I have a list here of other truck competitions that she’s actually competed in, which is very impressive.
Ina has a daughter, Alyssa, and two grandchildren, Evan and Marley. She resides in Avondale, Arizona, and continues to drive short-haul runs out of Phoenix, Arizona. Ina, thank you so much for joining us here today. I think this is a really interesting perspective you’re going to offer. Thanks for coming on.
Ina Daly:
Oh, I’m glad to be here. Glad to share my message.
Julie Gunlock:
Well look, I’d like to get to your message and I’d like to hear, to be honest with you, it seems like a Herculean effort to sort of balance what your profession is and raising kids and being there for grandkids and all sorts of other stuff, but tell us a little bit about your story. You are a truck driver and tell us how you got into that industry, first of all, and when you had kids. I like to start from there and talk about your parenting strategies, which frankly, that’s an unusual profession to have, first for a woman, and second for a mom. So tell us a little bit about how you got into the trucking industry.
Ina Daly:
Well I had a truck driver as a father and he was a single parent of six, and —
Julie Gunlock:
Wow.
Ina Daly:
Yeah. So I saw firsthand how it could be done, parenting and driving a truck. And my goal was to become a school teacher and actually was attending college to do that and wound up working for my dad’s friend in the trucking company office. And we had a farm. That’s how dad kept us out of trouble growing up, was we had a farm also, and I could drive the tractors so good compared to my four big brothers.
So the boss in the trucking company where I was working part-time knew I could drive and when they’d get shorthanded, they would send me out with a truck to do pickups. And then that led to job offers and it paid twice as much as working in the office, and I was a college student trying to save money so this made sense to start driving part-time while I continued with college.
Julie Gunlock:
What —
Ina Daly:
And dad took me aside and said, “You need to just drive. Try it. Try it for a year.” And I did and it was great.
Julie Gunlock:
Just to give me a sort of perspective here, what kind of trucks were these that when you were a young girl, college student, what were these trucks?
Ina Daly:
They were your typical LTL type of trucks, the double trailers —
Julie Gunlock:
Wow.
Ina Daly:
Mostly. Mostly the double trailer type. That’s what my dad drove and I kind of went into the exact same place as him. It was —
Julie Gunlock:
So you’re doing this. Your dad says, “Hey. Why don’t you try this for a year?” You do it for a year and then what happens?
Ina Daly:
Well, I made about $10,000 more that first year than I would’ve made teaching school. And I had planned on just taking that year and saving up that money and then going back because I finished my junior college and then I was going to go to U of A and finish and even had a partial scholarship there. So —
Julie Gunlock:
Wow.
Ina Daly:
It was a tough decision, but I had so much fun. There weren’t a lot of women back then.
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah.
Ina Daly:
But the men were pretty much welcoming. There was —
Julie Gunlock:
Aw.
Ina Daly:
Some that were like, “You should —
Julie Gunlock:
Of course.
Ina Daly:
Home having babies and —
Julie Gunlock:
Right.
Ina Daly:
All women have experienced something like that, but —
Julie Gunlock:
Right.
Ina Daly:
The men were great.
Julie Gunlock:
Ah. That’s great.
Ina Daly:
And it was just fun.
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah. So that first year, what was your route? How far were you going? What were the hours? I imagine this industry is much more regulated now than when you started out. So give me a sense of sort of what you were driving, the route, how long you were on the road, how long it would take you? I’m kind of curious about that.
Ina Daly:
Yeah. Well, trucking comes in all variations as you know. So it takes somebody to pick it up and take it to the dock and load it in the trailer for the ultimate destination. We call it a freight accumulation centers.
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah.
Ina Daly:
— logistics where I work now, but I was working local, making pickups and deliveries. It’s —
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah.
Ina Daly:
Kind of like when you see the UPS truck —
Julie Gunlock:
Ah.
Ina Daly:
Around your neighborhood. We’re talking a bigger truck with a shorter trailer picking up a pallet or two or three.
Julie Gunlock:
Sure.
Ina Daly:
Like that. So —
Julie Gunlock:
Okay.
Ina Daly:
Yeah.
Julie Gunlock:
So that was your first —
Ina Daly:
Trucking.
Julie Gunlock:
So that was your first year. So tell me sort of the phase when you get married, you have kids. I mean, were you still driving? Did you take a break? Tell me sort of the evolution of this —
Ina Daly:
Well, I protect my daughter and as far as how I became a single parent. You can be pregnant and do this job.
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah.
Ina Daly:
And I had help in those years. When she was young, I had help, and from then it was work and figure out how to be a single parent.
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah.
Ina Daly:
And I don’t want accolades for what I did.
Julie Gunlock:
Sure.
Ina Daly:
I certainly —
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah.
Ina Daly:
Certainly saw how it could be done with my dad. Men didn’t get custody of the children back then.
Julie Gunlock:
Right.
Ina Daly:
He raised six of us with my grandma’s help so —
Julie Gunlock:
Well —
Ina Daly:
I could do it.
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah. And you said you grew up on a farm and you had older brothers, one of six.
Ina Daly:
Mmhm.
Julie Gunlock:
I imagine part of the success that you had in being able to raise your daughter while doing a job that may take you out of the home and probably didn’t offer a ton of flexibility. I mean, you might have been able to choose when you drove, but it wasn’t like there was a work from home option for you at that time and certainly for that type of work.
Ina Daly:
Right.
Julie Gunlock:
But it sounds like you had a lot of family helping, able to support you.
Ina Daly:
I did. Right in the area because I still live right where I grew up. So —
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah.
Ina Daly:
I knew everybody in the neighborhood. My brothers were close and I had help and I had to recruit.
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah.
Ina Daly:
Don’t ever be afraid to ask for help. But luckily, I was Monday through Friday daytime and there was a while that I worked nights and —
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah.
Ina Daly:
So I would just drop her off at my brother’s, she would spend the night, and then I’d pick her up in the morning. It was really a logistical challenge all the time, especially when she got older and wanted to go into sports and then wanted to do church on Wednesdays and things like that. So I always found ways and then I would pay it back. So like my brother’s daughter would —
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah.
Ina Daly:
Get off the school bus at my house. So even a two-parent household has those same challenges.
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I read in your Bible … Bible. Oh my gosh. What was I saying? I’m reading here in your bio, you have two grandchildren. So just two questions on this. Are you the coolest grandmother in your neighborhood or —
Ina Daly:
Ah.
Julie Gunlock:
I mean, do they brag about having a grandma that can drive tracks because I can imagine —
Ina Daly:
Oh yeah.
Julie Gunlock:
You are. Yeah.
Ina Daly:
Actually, this is very funny. My grandson Googles me in class. So he said, “Nobody believes me that you’re on Google.” And then he says that he’s on Google as well because there’s pictures of him and I doing trucking-related activities. So he thinks that’s really cool to Google me in class.
Julie Gunlock:
Well not to be —
Ina Daly:
Yeah.
Julie Gunlock:
Not to leave girls out, but I will tell you, I have three sons and each of them went through a pretty remarkable truck phase where they had their trucks. They used to wash them. In my backyard, we’d do the car wash and they’d bring all their trucks out and we’d run them through the truck wash. I think it’s so great that you have grandkids, but I don’t know. I just got to say, boy, having a grandson and a grandmother who does this for a living is pretty darn cool. And I want to just mention, there is a reason that you are on Google. You have won so many awards and championships.
You won the Arizona State Trucking Driving Championship 27 … or competed rather, in the Arizona State Truck Driving Championship 27 times and the National Truck Driving Championships 14 times. Okay. The coolness factor here is going up and up and up. You competed as the Arizona State Champion in the NTDC in four different classes. I mean, it goes on and on. You won Arizona Trucking Driving Championship Rookie of the Year Award. So that must have been when you started out. And two-time Arizona grand champion. Yeah. I think you might be the coolest grandma in the world. So are you still driving?
Ina Daly:
Yes. Driving right now. Well, I’m parked right now, but I am. I’m en route to California.
Julie Gunlock:
Really? And what are you driving right now?
Ina Daly:
I’m driving a Freightliner truck with two trailers behind me.
Julie Gunlock:
Wow.
Ina Daly:
I drive for XPO Logistics in the LTL division of it.
Julie Gunlock:
So you mentioned in the beginning of the podcast here that you were one of very few women in the trucking industry when you started. What’s it like now?
Ina Daly:
Well, I think the numbers are in the six to 7% range with women in the industry. And, certainly, that’s why I was anxious to share my message. I’m hoping that other women might consider trucking as a career. I’ve always said women could end that driver’s shoulders that you hear so much about, but it’s just convincing them to give it a try. And that’s why I really hope that some women listening to your show might actually take that step. Whether you’re a mom, a single mom, you can work local like I did or maybe you’re an empty nester and you’re wanting to try something different and you want to see the country and you can go out and drive across the country. Or maybe you’re a husband and wife team and you want to go see the country. There’s all kinds of options. Like I don’t have a sleeper on my truck.
I don’t need to sleep in my truck thank goodness. I get to go home and go to bed every night. I’ve had some really cool experiences and was able to take my daughter with me. All the championships you talked about, competing in the National Truck Driving Championships, you win your state in order to do that and I got to take my daughter with me and then I’m on America’s road team and I was able to do events all around the country and take her with me. She got to see so much and do so much thanks to the trucking industry and working for the right company is really helpful in that too. But I don’t think that a lot of women realize that you can go out and make that money driving a truck and have fun like me. I really enjoy it and still be a parent.
Julie Gunlock:
It’s so great to hear you say that and I also think now with so many educational options out there, I personally homeschool my child, my oldest son, and we call ourselves sort of COVID homeschoolers because we did it in response to the COVID shutdowns. But you think about my goodness, first of all, what an education your daughter got seeing the country and also seeing her mom sort of having to handle this big truck and work in an industry where a lot of women … that’s a great message also to send to your daughter that you’re working in this industry, and have been for so long, in an industry that obviously has a smaller number of women in it. But today, if people wanted to get into this industry, you could actually homeschool if you wanted to once you get to your destination.
Ina Daly:
That’s a good point.
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah. Yeah. I imagine a lot of trucks now sort of have Wi-Fi; there’s even online school. So you could be in your vehicle, literally trucking along and your child could be on an online class. So it’s really wonderful. This is one of the reasons I so love technology is because my producer Tim and I, Tim was once a guest on the show and he’s always sending like interesting sort of ideas of how to spy on my kid. You can jump in here, Tim, if you’re disagreeing with anything that I’m saying. But there are just so many ways in which parenting is actually easier now and educating kids is easier now. And so as you’re talking about this, getting to show your kid the world and maybe even help them with their own education while having this job, I mean, I might just be so lining up to drive some trucks myself right now. This sounds like a pretty great life.
Ina Daly:
Yeah. I mean, the possibilities are endless with all the technology that you’re talking about. So —
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah.
Ina Daly:
For sure. I wish some of those options were there for me when my daughter was young —
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah.
Ina Daly:
With all the school options that you see now.
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah.
Ina Daly:
It’s kind of sad that the COVID situation has forced homeschooling, but I’m a believer —
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah.
Ina Daly:
In having that option.
Julie Gunlock:
I honestly say, God, it’s almost like dangerous to say, “Oh, well it’s a silver lining.” You can’t really say that about a disease that has killed millions. But I do think it has rocked the world in a way that it’s transformational both in education, I think, and look, I think it’s great that many meetings now are happening on Zoom. There are an awful lot of women who actually, they might go on maternity leave, but it sure is hard to go back to work after six weeks. I think having a work from home option, I think businesses now see that women or men who can be productive in a work from home or not in a traditional work environment. And certainly for truckers, for women who want to get on the road and want to do … I imagine many women with young children are like, “Ugh. I can’t do this.”
“I got to be home for pickup or whatever.” But if you choose an educational option like homeschooling or a full online school and you have Wi-Fi in your truck, I mean, it opens up, like you said, it opens up so many possibilities, especially for women. So it’s really sort of an exciting sort of development. Yeah. I wanted to pivot just a little bit and talk about obviously the trucking industry is big time in the news because you mentioned the supply chain kind of issues. I know there are driver shortages. I think the economy is having a really hard problem with these sort of extended unemployment benefits. In some cases, they might match what a person can make in some jobs. You have driver compensation issues. Where are trucks going to park? There’s a whole lot of regulations, insurance, you name it.
There’s a ton of issues in the trucking industry. But I want to talk specifically about the supply chain and worker shortages. Is that something that you’re experiencing, backlogs, or even like trucks not being able to get to the location that they need to get to for various reasons? What have you experienced in this area?
Ina Daly:
Well, I think all companies in all industries have really been impacted by COVID with worker shortages and sickness, people being out. I mean, we’re seeing, again, right now with the Omicron hitting us again.
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah.
Ina Daly:
But I can tell you in my company, we hired extra. We were behind like every other company for a while, a few months back, and now we’re caught up again, but it’s to the point where companies are hiring extra and accepting that they’re going to have people out. They’re doing all they can to mitigate exposure, but it’s impossible when you’re in the front line, essential workers like us. So they’re buying all the trucks they can get. Building trailers as fast as they can get them and staffing high —
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah.
Ina Daly:
So that they can be prepared. And we are doing our part in the supply chain crisis, trucking is. We’re getting the freight from point A to point B. The problem I think right now with the supply chain is more so with international problems with raw materials, manufacturing —
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah.
Ina Daly:
Getting those container ships unloaded. We still see that problem over there in the port of LA and Long Beach and they’re working on it, but I think it highlighted the fact that we need to make changes. And like you talked about, the regulation had just gotten to be extreme. We’re one of the most heavily regulated industries in —
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah.
Ina Daly:
— the country, and it needed to be eased. We’re limited [inaudible 00:20:22] that we can work.
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah.
Ina Daly:
With driving. And you mentioned also the parking issue. That’s a huge issue, and we just had a big infrastructure bill pass and not one mention of truck parking in —
Julie Gunlock:
Unbelievable.
Ina Daly:
But we are very grateful though that we’re going to see some improvements in the roads because the potholes and the pollution —
Julie Gunlock:
Oh sure.
Ina Daly:
I’m [inaudible 00:20:53] drive 11 hours in a day —
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah.
Ina Daly:
But very few drivers can actually drive that.
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah.
Ina Daly:
Average driver is only going to be six and a half to seven hours a day. That’s a lot of wasted productivity because of traffic congestion and construction and things like that. We really need to address congestion, and there’s so much that needs to be done. I know they’re working on it —
Julie Gunlock:
Well, I think it also frustrated a lot of people in this country that you had an infrastructure bill, which should really be geared towards doing things like transportation, like fixing the roads, as you said, the potholes and creating larger parking spaces and providing for parking spaces for these big rigs, especially as we’re having supply chain issues. I mean, that’s part of it. You had a massive snowstorm in the Washington DC area and people were stuck in their cars and truckers were stuck in their cars for over 24 hours. I mean, that is what a transportation bill should be focused on, not measuring ant farts on an ant farm.
I’m actually making that ant farts up because, but I can guarantee you, I will find something as ridiculous and non-related to transportation in these bills. We have a problem in this country with transportation. We have a problem in this country with the supply chain and with this industry that is working so hard, an over-regulated industry and no help or limited. And I think there definitely was some transportation in that bill, but it frustrates me, and I think a lot of others, that Washington can pat these bills with so much excess that it then doesn’t pass, and then the relief doesn’t get to the trucking industry or those who really need it.
Ina Daly:
Right. And there shouldn’t be restrictions on who could build the road and —
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah.
Ina Daly:
Things like that. We just need to get the road built.
Julie Gunlock:
That’s right. That’s right.
Ina Daly:
Widen and ease the congestion. That’s what we do in trucking. My dad always used to say, “That’s trucking. You do the job until it’s fun.”
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah.
Ina Daly:
So what we do is we get a load, and we make plans to get it there. That’s our goal. Get it —
Julie Gunlock:
Well [crosstalk 00:23:14].
Ina Daly:
The government struggle with getting things to fruition is troubling.
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah. I think Washington’s motto is a little different. It’s like, “We do things until it’s kind of sort of not really done, but oh well. We’re distracted.” So yeah. They could use a little of that trucker attitude. I’d like to just ask you, as we wrap up here, if people are interested in getting involved in this industry and particularly women, and I hate to put you on the spot like this, but is there a place that or fun blogs or resources really where people can find out a little bit more about getting started?
Ina Daly:
Well, of course, you can go to trucking.org, and that’s the American Trucking Association’s website.
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah.
Ina Daly:
There’ll be resources there. There’s Twitter, TMAF, hashtag TMAF, truckers move America forward. And I think there’s women in trucking. They have a really great —
Julie Gunlock:
Great.
Ina Daly:
Option and website. Every company. Basically, you go on any company’s website [inaudible 00:24:32] XPOlogistics.com, and they have a —
Julie Gunlock:
Resources.
Ina Daly:
Sign up for jobs there. You can actually start out on the dock working, loading and unloading, and they’ll train you, they’ll sign you up, if you want, if you pass all the background check and all that. You can be trained to be a driver by drivers like me and earn a living doing it. So —
Julie Gunlock:
Great.
Ina Daly:
You can be a driver in just a few months.
Julie Gunlock:
Well, Ina, you have been enormously informative and just kind of, frankly, encouraging to, I think, a lot of women who would be interested in this. And again, as we said, technology’s made things a lot easier, especially compared to when you were starting out and had young kids. I think there’s a lot of options now for women, for single women, for professional women looking for a way to balance motherhood and their professional life and their duties, running a home and caring for their families. So this has been really enlightening. I am really excited that I got to talk to you and I hope your grandson listens to this podcast because you are indeed a very, very cool grandma.
Ina Daly:
Well, thank you. And like I said, I just wanted my message to be if you’re looking for something more fun and more rewarding financially and you’re a parent, consider it. There’s a lot of women out here that would love to have you join us.
Julie Gunlock:
That’s so great. Thanks again for coming on and I hope we can check back with you again on this, this really unique and interesting way to live your life and make a living.
Ina Daly:
Well, thank you, Julie. Thanks for inviting me. It’s really important to get our message out there. So thank you.
Julie Gunlock:
Yeah. That’s great. Thanks again.
Thanks, everyone, for being here for another episode of the Bespoke Parenting Hour. If you enjoyed this episode or like the podcast in general, please leave a rating or review on iTunes. This helps ensure that the podcast reaches as many listeners as possible. If you haven’t subscribed to the Bespoke Parenting Hour on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcast, please do so, so you won’t miss an episode. Don’t forget to share this episode and let your friends know that they can get Bespoke episodes on their favorite podcast app. From all of us here at the Independent Women’s Forum, thanks for listening.