Retired US truckie and well-known country musician, Joe Martin, Tells Owner//Driver how his 'Women in Trucking' song was born
After meeting Women in Trucking founding CEO Ellen Voie at the iconic Mid-America Truck Show, Joe did a bit of digging and found that nearly 7% of truck drivers in the US are women.
The decision to write a song about it came to him at a cafe and by the time he’d finished his coffee, he’d written the entire song!
“One day while enjoying some coffee at Starbucks I thought, ‘women in trucking, that’s a great fit’. I wrote the entire song and recorded it two weeks later,” Joe told Owner//Driver.
The inspiration, Joe says, comes from women he’s worked with in in the trucking game over the years.
“I witnessed many women entering the industry and we had four women drivers at FedEx Freight where I worked,” he says.
After recording the song Joe showed Ellen from Women in Trucking, who loved it and made it the theme song for the organisation.
“I called Ellen and had her watch the video on my Youtube channel,” he says.
“She loved it and the rest is history. They are using it as their theme song on the weekend radio show!”
Chatting to Joe, he knows trucks and it’s no surprise given his experience as an operator.
“I learned to drive in a 1957 Mack Thermodyne, split shifters,” he recalls.
“In between my music I anyways maintained my commercial license, so I drove on and off.
“In the Air Force I drove everything.
“I quit playing (music) and drove for FedEx Freight for 23 years’ – doubles and triples.”
When Joe was trucking he also worked hard to promote driver health and stay fit himself.
“While driving, health was important so I put together a DVD called ‘Truckercise’,” Joe says.
“A thirty-minute workout for truckers, right in driver’s seat while parked.
“I also was co-author of a four disc audio book, ‘Truckers Road to Health’.”
Joe has performed in 48 states in the US as well as Greenland from the age of 13 ‘til now, after teaching himself to play guitar, bass, saxophone, keyboard, fiddle and drums.
“I got into writing after retiring in 2014. My pen never stopped. Still hasn’t!” Joe says of his music.
“I had my own group and played with such notables – Ray Sharp, O.C. Smith, Charlie Pride, The Cowsils, The Champs and more.”
Joe’s advice for women looking at a career in trucking in simple: “I would say DO IT!”
Check out the video below!