John Christner trucker Pamela Hoydt’s second career sails on a strong wind of freedom

Pamela Hoydt, 47, says she’s the different one in her family – she is the only one who is a trucker, something she’s had an interest in since she was 20.

“I’m not sure why,” she says. “It always just looked fun.”

Five years ago, she got a “wild feather” after watching a commercial about trucking school. “I didn’t have a husband, and all of my children were grown,” she says. “It seemed perfect.”

Hoydt has been driving two years for John Christner Trucking in Sapulpa, Okla. She describes trucking as a breath of fresh air. “Out here on the road,” she says, “life is so much freer. You don’t have people breathing down your neck to get the job done.”

Helping stranded motorists along the highway is something Hoydt does regularly.