Truck driver Dee Sova recently wrote an opinion piece which was shared by Fox News as to why she packed up her family and her business and moved across the country from California to Missouri, despite her love of the state.
“To most people, owning your own business is a way to become successful. For me, it was a mission – a lifeline to a brighter future for myself and my daughters,” she wrote.
She goes on to tell her story of how after a lot of hard work and dedication, she was living her version of the American dream.
“That journey began in California more than three decades ago, when I dropped my nursing studies to get a commercial driver’s license. As a woman, the thought of working in a male-dominated field was intimidating at first. But those initial fears soon gave way to the rewarding opportunities that a career in trucking offers.”
In trucking, she found everything she needed to make an honest living and provide for her daughters.
“The change was unexpected. As a single parent raising four daughters, I needed both flexibility and the opportunity to provide for them. Which is why, in 2015, I partnered with Prime Inc. to become an independent contractor.”
Being an independent contractor gave her the ability and flexibility to run her business and her life the way she saw fit.
“Being an independent truck driver empowered me to run my truck as my own small business. I loved traveling on the job, the freedom to be my own boss, and the option to take my children with me on long hauls when I could.”
She was living her dream until a policy change came into effect that had the potential to change the lifestyle she’d worked so hard to achieve and had become accustomed to.
“Making good money while seeing the country, I built a wonderful life back in California – a place I was proud to call home. I was living my version of the American Dream. But lawmakers in Sacramento soon had a very different plan for me.”
She went on to talk about why Assembly Bill 5 was a scary concept for her to learn of as it could potentially affect her business and life.
“When the state legislature began debating Assembly Bill 5 – a law effectively banning independent contractors in trucking – my dream was put in jeopardy. AB5 would have demoted me from small business owner to company employee – affecting my hours, benefits, flexibility and overall ability to earn on my own terms. It would effectively kill the dream I worked so hard to build over so many years.”
Sova knew it was time to make a change.
“So, for the second time in my professional life, I knew it was time to change gears. I packed up and left California. I could not afford to lose my business and the livelihood it provided my family. In 2020, I moved to Springfield, Missouri, where I continued as an independent contractor with Prime Inc.”
She reflects on the decision she made, on leaving the place that she called home for so long, and knowing that this was the right decision for her family.
“I often reflect on where my dream started and what could have been. As a Black woman, I built a successful business and created a profitable path in an industry that had once belonged almost exclusively to men. Then the California legislature stepped in and took that all away from me. They forced me to say goodbye to the place I once called home for decades.”
Despite it all, she’s counting her blessing and moving forward in this new adventure.
“I’m blessed to have successfully moved to a more business-friendly state, but not everyone has the resources to do so. Since AB5 has gone into effect, thousands of more independent truckers in California have been thrust into legal limbo. Lawmakers have given other industries a carveout from AB5, but they continue to deny truck drivers that same opportunity.”
Since AB5 has gone into effect, it has meant that many independent contractors and carriers alike in the state of California are having to find new paths forward that work both for employers and drivers under the new law.
Source: Fox News
