Ladies’ Club : They (Love) Their Trucks as Much as the Guys Do
A few years back when Scott Prussing was driving his car along Interstate 5, he couldn’t help but turn his head at the attractive women passing him by . . . in pickup trucks.
Women in pickup trucks, Prussing lamented, would only bring trouble. Those women, noted the free-lance writer who lives in Clairemont, usually drive a truck that belongs to a jealous husband or a burly boyfriend.
Prussing wrote some song lyrics about those vixens who sit high on borrowed four-wheel-drives, and the title tells a truth all men should know: “Single Women Never Drive a Truck.”
One Little Blurb
Then an ad appeared in a local paper: “Single Women Who Own Trucks! Forming Group for Mutual Interest, Fun and Enterprise. We Are a Rare Breed. Please Call.”
With one little blurb, Lindee Rochelle scored another notch against male chauvinism and founded L8Y TRUKS, a group that caters to single female truck owners.
Rochelle, of Solana Beach, hopes the fledgling group does more than attend truck rallies and take trips to the desert. The club plans to welcome women shunned by other truck groups whose membership is predominantly male, and to learn to do light maintenance. And, of course, its plans include just having fun.
High on Rochelle’s list of goals is helping raise the public image of women truckers, so L8Y TRUKS will assist community charities. The only membership requirement, she said, is that the truck be registered under the woman’s name.
“I was getting tired of people asking me if it was my boyfriend’s truck,” Rochelle said, referring to her white, two-wheel-drive, 1986 Toyota pickup with personalized plates: L8Y TRUK.
“And I had a lot of other women ask me: ‘Why did you buy a truck? It’s so masculine.’ ”
On the other hand, said Rochelle, 39, some men seem genuinely intrigued and attracted to women truck owners.
Bimbos Need Not Apply
“That’s when the idea came to me to put together a calendar with photos of women truck owners,” said Rochelle, who is a part-time photographer. “You can get any bimbo to stand next to a truck, but having a woman owner next to her truck, I figured, would be more attractive to those men.”
That sales strategy led to the ad in the paper, designed to draw women truck owners for models.
At first, however, the callers didn’t quite fill the bill.
“The first guy who called was Scott (Prussing), and we’ve made him our honorary male member,” Rochelle said. “Then two other guys called with obscene messages.”
But then came calls from women from all over San Diego County--Vista, El Cajon, Escondido, Chula Vista, Solana Beach--sharing similar tales of joy and insult.
“It was fun talking to other women who owned trucks, and I realized how much we had in common,” Rochelle said. “That’s when I decided to form a new group just for us. The calls I was getting from all over the county is a clear indication that nothing like this is available around here.”
First Membership Meeting
At the first membership meeting Thursday night, seven truck owners appeared in the parking lot of the B Street Pier, and Rochelle told them: “I want to better the reputation of truck clubs. We’re practical . . . and we’re aesthetically pleasing.”
“I like it when it’s put that way,” said 69-year-old Mary Varain of Escondido, a health spa hostess and proud owner of a white, 1984 Toyota pickup.
“I guess I’m what you call a feminist,” she said. “I believe women ought to be able to do anything. Why shouldn’t we own a pickup?”
Trying to describe what it takes to be a woman trucker, Rochelle came up with this definition: “These women are a little more outgoing, perhaps a bit more aggressive and clearly adventurous--while remaining decidedly feminine.”
Jeanne Cunningham, 27, of El Cajon and Julie Lyles, 24, of Escondido agree. When they are not driving their pickup trucks, the two can probably be found out in the desert, swirling sand with their three-wheelers.
“My first meeting and I’ve already met someone with a same interest,” said Lyles, a loan processor. “That’s why I joined. To make some new friends.”
Lyles, like the others, talked a lot about being independent and supported the idea of the maintenance lessons.
“I think it’s important to let people know that we’re not a bunch of dummies who go to a mechanic, hand the keys and then get shellshocked when they see the bill,” she said.
Although they still don’t have enough members to fill a calendar, the lady truckers were optimistic about growth as they began forming the club’s agenda.
Meanwhile, Prussing, 35, contemplated his enviable position as the only male member of the club.
“I certainly won’t complain about it,” he said.
His song lyrics, Prussing explained, tell the tale of a man who sets eyes on a lady trucker, then gets beaten to a pulp by her enraged husband. But, as the wounds heal, the man falls in love with another woman behind the wheel of a custom-lifted four-wheel-drive. This time, there are no strings attached:
Every now and then you got to trust your luck,
Cuz single women sometimes drive a truck.
Yeah, let me tell you,
Single women sometimes drive a truck.
