So what does International Women’s Day on Saturday, March 8, look like for the nation’s female truckies?
Instead of gathering to celebrate at corporate lunches in plush hotels quietly sipping wine while listening to inspirational women speak, instead of being spoiled in the office by our male colleagues with lovely morning teas, instead of joining the mother’s club girls for lunch at the local playgroup, Aussie female truckies are out in the field loading cattle into road trains, standing in the heat on building sites pouring concrete, backing up to supermarket docks, navigating cyclone-ravaged areas with critical supplies or sleeping off long nights on the road counting white lines.
Every lovely outfit worn on International Women’s Day, every morsel delicious of food and every drop of wine has arrived on the back of a truck – ensuring this international day of celebration is perfect in every way.
So when (I hear you ask) do we honour the considerable achievement’s of these impressive and gutsy women?
Every year on July 5, the nation’s female truckies come together to honour the birthdate of legendary Australian female Truckie Toots Holzheimer and to raise our glasses to celebrate National Female Truckie’s Day.
This year, the girls will park up their trucks and converge on the Darwin Entertainment Centre to let their hair down and enjoy an evening of laughs and relaxation together – as this highly anticipated get-together unfolds.
The annual TOOTS Awards are the highlight of National Female Truckie’s Day – an event that sees the girls swap their steel-capped boots and hi-vis shirts for sequins and strappy shoes to attend the BP Australia WiTA TOOTS Awards gala dinner and presentation.
Keynote speakers will include much-loved deaf MC driver Candice Lureman who will share stories of her good, bad, downright ugly and sometimes hilarious fight to drive big rigs on the nation’s roads.
Septuagenarian MC driver Carolyn Statham Byrnes O’Reilly will also entertain guests with her hilarious stories of life on the “roads” (dirt tracks) in the 1960s and 1970s.
Ladies, keep an eye on the WiTA website and Facebook page over the coming weeks for details of earlybird registrations for this highly anticipated event.
In the meantime, a happy International Women’s Day from all the girls out on the road to our sisters celebrating across the country.
Raise your glasses in support of each other, keep being fabulous and always remember that alone we are strong, but together we are stronger.
- Lyndal Denny is a full-time truckie and the CEO of Women in Trucking Australia.