Trucker earns award

A pioneering Tucumcari trucker earned the Company Driver of the Year award and $25,000 during the Truckload Carriers Association's convention in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Betty Aragon, 74, was announced Sept. 26 as the winner on the convention stage to cheers, whoops and shouts of "Yeah, Betty!" from fellow truckers and carriers.

"Thank you, God, for giving me the strength to stand here tonight," she said at the lectern after being announced as receiving the honor. She was the first woman to receive the association's annual award.

Aragon said during a phone interview Thursday she was nervous when she received the honor.

"Man, my legs got wobbly, and I was all shook up," she said.

Aragon, who drives for Wilson Logistics based in Springfield, Missouri, began her 44-year trucking career as a single mother and overcame sexism in industry.

"The biggest thing on the road when I first started driving was that men didn't want women out there," Aragon said in a videotaped interview shown at the convention shortly before the award announcement.

"I had to overcome that, which I'm the type of person if you don't like me, tough cookies," she said, prompting cheers from the audience.

Aragon recalled early in her career trying to procure a shower at a truck stop in California, only to be told it was for men only. Employees instead told her to use a water hose outside.

"I got back in my truck and left," she said.

She once said she would quit driving a truck once her sons got out of high school. Now she has great-grandchildren who are starting school.

She also has trained men and women how to drive trucks.

"I made it to the top with the guys," she said during the ceremony, prompting more cheers.

Aragon also gave credit to her children "who put up with a lot" while she was on the road.

"I used to pick them up every time I came through (Tucumcari) if they were out of school," she recalled during the interview. "All summer, they would be with me in the truck. When they had spring break or whatever breaks they would have, I'd be able to take them for a week or whatever it was. But it wasn't enough."

Wilson Logistics stated in on Twitter on Wednesday that Aragon has logged more than 5 million miles on the road since her career began and never had an accident, citation or negative inspection.

"We believe Betty's positive attitude, work ethic, and dedication to public service and her family make her a great recipient of this award," the tweet added.

"We are honored and proud to have Betty as part of our Wilson family," said Scott Manthey, vice president of safety and training at Wilson Logistics, wrote Thursday in an email. "She has overcome gender bias in the early days as well as ethnicity bias, all while keeping her positive and helpful spirit.

"Betty has not only been a pioneer for women in a very tough industry, she has been an inspiration to many."

Aragon originally retired at 65 before the road lured her back. But she revealed during the phone interview she was putting in her notice to retire for good.

Aragon said she learned months ago she'd been nominated as Company Driver of the Year. Then the convention was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The nomination and the rescheduling of the event kept prompting her to postpone her retirement.

"Now it's over with. I really don't want to get off the road, but it's time. I'll put in (my notice) tomorrow," she said.