Former cook, restaurant manager wanted something better, found it in trucking

By BARB KAMPBELL
The Trucker Staff

10/13/2008

Lashea Sapp was tired of working two or three jobs at a time.

She had worked as a cook. She had been in management. She had worked for some popular restaurants, but she wasn’t satisfied with the life she was living.

“I wanted something better,” Sapp said. “It’s stressful out here (as a truck driver), but it’s stressful working two jobs and trying to maintain.”

Sapp’s only been driving for 2.5 months.

She hauls dry freight for Werner Enterprises in the Southwest Region, which covers Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, lower Colorado, and western New Mexico.

Sapp lives in Little Rock where she meets up with her “baby sister and her husband” once a month.

They drive for Celedon as a team and Sapp said it’s this couple who got her interested in trucking since they’ve been driving about a year.

“When we come home we all come home together,” Sapp said. “It’s like a family reunion.”

Her other sister’s fiancée is also a truck driver.

And while Sapp has no children of her own, she does have one special child who has stolen her heart and who she misses tremendously while out on the road.

“I have one niece,” she said. “She’s one and a half. I miss her. When I come home I like to spent time with her. I call her ‘Cheeks’ because of her big cheeks. Her real name is Parker McKenzie.”

Sapp said she’s making about the same money now as she did working two jobs at a time, but she likes not being at home anymore.

“I’m seeing a lot of things and learning a lot of things,” Sapp said. “I’ve met a lot of people. Other drivers help me out all the time. Some driver just told me how to avoid Dallas traffic.

“My trainer teaches me still. I’ve met a lot of good people. Yesterday I had a blowout and some guys called on the CB to see if I needed help. I was scared. It was my first time being on the side of the road.”

One truck driver stopped to help about the time road service arrived to change the tire so she was soon on the road again unscathed.

Sapp’s focused on safety and she realizes she’s new and there is plenty to learn.

“I drive about 60 mph,” she said. “I don’t go real fast. Safety is a big issue for me. If you aren’t going to be safe you shouldn’t be out there. I’m big on safety.”

Sapp started out with another company that sent her to school, but once she graduated they did not hire her because she couldn’t shift as well as they wanted. She applied to Werner and they trained her further.

“I needed someone to give me a chance,” Sapp said. Werner sent her out with a trainer out of Dallas and she is now driving solo.

She said her favorite thing about driving is the people and going from city to city. She likes to shop when she has time and did some sightseeing while training but finds that’s not much of an option anymore.

“I love stadiums (baseball and football), but can’t get to them because I’m driving,” Sapp said. “I take pictures of stadiums when I can and send them to my parents.”

The worst thing about being a long haul driver is being gone so much, she said.

“Being away from your family and friends” is hard, Sapp said. “Being a solo driver I’m lonely. I’m always on the phone; I had to change to an unlimited plan.”

She’s a big New England Patriots fan and was pretty bummed that quarterback Tom Brady will miss the rest of the season after a knee injury in the first game this year.

Sapp is originally from Boston, but has been in Little Rock since she was eight years old.

“I call this home sweet home,” she said.

As for what the future holds in trucking, she’s already worried about the near future.

“Winter will be scary for me,” Sapp said. “I’m going to take my time and be safe. That’s all you can do — and pray.

“I put everything in the Lord’s hands. He’s what gets me through day by day.”