Nation’s first female truck driver got her start during WWI

This month is National Women’s History month and today we are highlighting a woman who stepped up during World War I and became the nation’s first female truck driver – Luella Bates. 

Bates started as a test driver for Four Wheel Drive Auto Company during WWI, traveling throughout the state of Wisconsin in a Model B truck. 

After the war ended and most women left the workforce, Bates refused to step down and remained at the Four Wheel Drive Auto Company, eventually becoming the first woman truck driver to receive a license in New York state

“I like the business and expect to stay in it,” she said in an interview, reported Transportation History.org

Even more impressive for the times is the fact that, in addition to being a truck driver, Bates was also an expert truck mechanic!

Learn more about her story by checking out the video below.