(NewsNation) — Ingrid Brown has spent more than 40 years behind the wheel of a big rig, crisscrossing the country as part of a fellowship of truck drivers who spend long hours on the road and away from their families.
The solitude of the job can set in especially hard around the holidays when Americans gather with their families to celebrate Christmas. But for drivers whose job it is to move freight and products from one place to another, spending time alone creates different emotions.
“It definitely has its moments,” Brown, a board member with the Women In Trucking Association, told NewsNation. “Especially when it gets quiet and dark, and you’re rolling down the road and literally, when there’s no traffic on the road, you realize everybody’s at everybody’s house, and they have Christmas, and they’re opening presents.”
She added: “It can get pretty lonely.”
According to data provided by American Trucking Associations, there were nearly 3.6 million truck drivers employed in the U.S. in 2023
However, truckers who share the road also share what Brown calls a close-knit bond. Brown, who drives solo for Arkansas-based company Blackjack Express, said she will often pick up a load if it means another driver can spend time with their family.
In those moments, Brown said that she is willing to sacrifice her time if it means she is helping deliver Christmas gifts to children while also helping out a fellow driver.
Trucking groups and organizations around the country have also come together to hold silent auctions and other events that raise money for charity, Brown said. The groups also raise money to help fellow truck drivers who may be struggling financially to pay their bills or to pay their rent.
“It’s amazing what drivers do for other drivers but what they also do for the families of other drivers,” Brown told NewsNation. “We’re a pretty close-knit group. We definitely take care of one another. It doesn’t matter if you’re brand new or if you’ve been out here for a long time. Your family means as much to us as a driver does. So we’re pretty close-knit.”
Brown said she will spend this holiday season with friends and will resume her trucking duties in the new year.
Asked what she wanted for Christmas, Brown said that she hopes for safety for those who must spend time on the road during the busy travel season. This year, the American Automobile Association estimates that 119.3 million Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles away from home, with 90% of those travelers taking to the road to reach their destination.