Buckle up: Ky. group is offering resources for LGBTQ+ semi-truck drivers nationwide

The billion-dollar trucking industry is changing and with it, a shift in who’s behind the wheel.

Women and members of the LGBTQ+ community might be the future of drivers as the industry works to solve a driver shortage. One place this is happening is in Bowling Green.

Idella Hansen is a long-haul trucker with over 50 years of experience. She's worked on flatbed trucks and driven tractor-trailers with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cargo, she’s owned her own trucking business and even raised a family while pulling tractor-trailers across the country.

“I’m 73 and fast approaching 74 ,and yes sir, I've been doing it since I was 18 in some form or fashion,” Hansen said. “So I would say if the industry has changed I've seen it.”

Hansen has been behind the wheel long enough to see important changes in the people who make up the long-haul truck-driving community. She said she's seeing more diversity when she stops during long hauls on the road.