Women in trades: single mother accomplishes goal of earning CDL
Mikayla Ruffin is no stranger to hard times.
When she was pregnant with her second daughter, her fiancé, Michael McAllister, was killed, leaving her to carry on with their horse selling business and raise two children alone. Recently, the single mother reached another goal - both for herself and to honor McAllister - when she earned her Commercial Drivers License at Cleveland Community College’s Truck Driver Training Academy.
Ruffin said it has been a dream of hers to be a truck driver, and it was something she had talked about with her fiancé. And now she is one step closer.
Ruffin said several years ago she was dispatching for a trucking company out of Charlotte and buying and selling horses on the side.
“That’s how I got into wanting to get my CDL because I did a lot of hauling with a trailer, and it was something I wanted to get into,” she said.
Ruffin went to register for the course at CCC in September, but found out she had missed the deadline and had to wait for the November class before she could start driving and training in December. Ruffin said she is no stranger to hard, tough jobs and after the dispatching company experienced a slow down, she went to work in the cooler of a slaughterhouse for two months until she had to quit while taking the CDL course.
“I had to quit my job,” Ruffin said. “I was out of work the whole month of December. It was hard. It was tough, especially having two children, but I was determined to get my CDL.”
When she began the course, she said she didn’t know anything about the trucks but before students can begin training, they have to do what’s called the pre-trip inspection. Ruffin said that means memorizing and checking everything on the truck from front to back, including the suspension system, axels, trailer and more.
“You have to memorize before you get to the course,” she said. “I didn't know none of it.”
She said the instructors showed them how to make it simple, and she passed with perfect scores.
She said out of the roughly 15 students in the class, she was one of two women.
“Another Black woman like myself,” Ruffin said. “We rocked it out. The only intimidating part was being in a such a massive vehicle.”
She said once she got in the truck and got comfortable, she was able to quickly learn the fundamentals.
The course involved taking 35 tests and each test required a passing score with only two chances to take the test. Once the tests were completed, students attended classes all day Monday through Friday and one Saturday.
“You have to have a certain amount of hours in order to get your CDL,” Ruffin said. “Basically we practiced a lot on Highway 74 up and down. They took us us into the mountains to show us how to go down a hill or up a hill.”
She said they learned to back the trucks, pay attention to speed limits, height and weight limits of bridges, road signs and more.
Ruffin said they went through a practice driving course before taking the real one, which she aced.
She said she enjoyed the classes and instructors who were knowledgeable and made learning simple and fun.
“My last day of class, it was kind of emotional. They had a huge impact on us. They run a good program,” Ruffin said.
She said now, the only obstacle to overcome is finding a company that will hire her without experience.
In January, she went to work as a concrete truck driver for Blythe Construction working on I-85 near Gaffney, South Carolina, to gain experience until she can land a job on the road.
She said she knows it will require traveling, which means being away from her children for weeks, a sacrifice she said she’ll have to make to reach her goals.
“It does come with sacrifice. In my eyes, when you're doing something with a purpose, you have to focus on that. There's a reason why I got my CDL,” Ruffin said. “I’m trying to build a future for me and my family.”
She said her story doesn’t stop with driving concrete trucks.
“To me you can always go further,” she said. “I’m 28. I've been working since I was 18. I've worked some of the toughest jobs. I mean hard labor. Lifting 50 pound bags, breaking down heavy equipment. When I get my CDL, this is a chance to relax and do something I enjoy.”
Ruffin said she was born and raised in Blacksburg, South Carolina, and had her first daughter a month after she graduated high school. From then on she worked factory jobs until she got into horses and eventually met McAllister. The two worked buying and selling horses and finding them their forever homes and also had a company transporting horses.
“The day I met him, we were never apart after that. He showed me how to back a trailer, pull a trailer, showed me what to do. He was one of the first people to tell me to get my CDL,” Ruffin said.
When he died, she was four months pregnant with their daughter, who is now 2.
“He had a huge part in getting my CDL,” Ruffin said. “When he passed away, I was just determined to keep going. Everything I said I was going to do, I did.”
She said her goal is to eventually have her own tractor and trailer and maybe start her own business.
“When I lost him, my main focus was my girls. They looking at me and how I deal with situations and how I got through them. And I have to teach them that and I know he wouldn't want me to be down and out. A week after I buried him, I was back out selling horses because that was my only income. I haven't stopped since, and I refuse to sit down.”
Reach reporter Rebecca Sitzes at rsitzes@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Women in trades: single mother accomplishes goal of earning CDL
