Welcome to Virago Transport
- Nicole Rodriguez
- Sep 7, 2022
- 4 min read
This is going to be a long one, but a totally cathartic and exciting experience, so buckle up! If you don’t have the desire to read the novel, skip down to the 4th paragraph from the bottom for the TL;DR portion.
Anyways…. A little over a year ago a series of unfortunate events changed the course of our lives and how we perceived our life around us, but it ended up being the biggest blessing we could have ever asked for. Many know that we were in a pretty gnarly car accident that totaled out our car and could have been potentially catastrophic. There were other things going on in the background that had us completely tapped out. We were both in jobs that left us feeling unfulfilled, mentally & emotionally drained, and all around fed up with being yet another disposable number demanding we ask permission to live our lives. This, along with the pandemic, set in motion a strong desire to do something different with our lives. Something on our terms. Something that would give us the opportunity to take back our lives and work on our goals that we set for ourselves and our family many years ago.
Now, personally, me taking a step away from healthcare was absolutely heartbreaking and something that I struggled with for quite some time. The feeling of being a quitter and turning my back on something that I have been so passionate about for so many years was overwhelming, but my cup was empty. My health took a turn for the worse, physically, mentally & emotionally. I felt as though I was on autopilot and my husband and child were not getting the best version of me, they were getting someone empty and miserable. Something had to change.
Daryl was in the same boat, feeling like he had put so much time and effort into getting his MBA and learning his industry, his trade, and trying to fit into a corporate structure in an industry that is fragmented to the point of being broken. He wanted to do more with his trucking experience where he could make a difference, doing anything other than what he was doing.
We (Daryl & I) had several long, brutally honest conversations amongst ourselves and decided we would take a leap of faith and go into business for ourselves. The few people who were in the know probably thought we were absolutely insane. Walk away from a thriving nursing career and security of driving as a company driver??!? We would flip the script, take back our lives and start our own little family run trucking company.
Daryl has been driving for 14+ years, involved in all facets of transportation, from driving, dispatching, safety manager, you name it, he’s done it. And he excels in all things trucking. It’s one of the most admirable things I love about him. He gives 110% to everything he does, he does what it takes with no complaint, and he always does a job well done, every time, without question.
I personally had little to no experience in the industry, aside from being a trucker’s wife for 10 years, 4th generation in the trucking industry (starting with my great grandfather, grandfather, and my father). But I’ve developed a deep passion for the struggles and lack of advocacy for drivers over the years having seen it from the perspective of a wife, daughter, and nurse. Working towards building this from the ground up with Daryl has been so incredibly challenging and eye opening to all the good and bad of the transportation industry. Over the last year of learning the ins and outs of all things trucking I’ve actually found my passion for nursing again as an advocate and educator to some of the sickest, poorest health literate demographic in the country. My goal is to tap into that passion and potentially make a difference in some very important people’s lives at some point in the near future.
But back to the trucking company….
TL;DR Portion
We’d like to introduce our friends and family to our new family run trucking company: Virago Transport LLC! We have scrimped and saved over the last year to purchase our first truck and trailer! “Her'' name is Obsidian. She’s a 2019 Kenworth T680, absolutely gorgeous and will hopefully live up to her name and bring us prosperity and good fortune.
We will be taking our maiden voyage in the next few days with the understanding that we are starting out in an unstable time in transportation. Fuel is ridiculously high, rates are dipping low and all the cards are stacked against us, but we are resilient and persistent, and too damn stubborn not to give it our all. That being said, if we can survive in today’s market we can flourish when the balance swings the other way!
We are dedicated to this, across our whole family. We are truly a family run trucking company. Drake is so excited to hop in and learn about life on the road (homeschooling allows us that opportunity), learn a great trade, and hopefully learn great life lessons along the way.
Thank you so much to the small circle of people we have shared our ventures with! Your love and support have helped us keep our eyes on the prize and leap into unknown waters! Thank you for not thinking we are totally insane and throwing caution to the wind, lol. We’ve put literal blood, sweat and tears into getting this operation up and going (Daryl has been a total beast at structuring our foundation… finally making use of that MBA!!!) in such a short time!
We’ll be documenting our little journey (as I learn more lol) and with a hope and prayer, be successful in our dream to live our own American dream. I’ll be sharing our FB and Instagram pages (and hopefully a youTube channel if we have the gumption) once we have everything up and running, and we hope you’ll join us in our exciting new adventure!
#ViragoTransport #womenintrucking #4thgenerationRodrigueztrucking #stepdecklife #proudtruckerswife #wediditourway #familytruckingcompany #entrepreneurcouple #lifegoals
Comments