Overdrive

26 | Overdrive | June 2017 Path to prosperity M ore than a dozen wide-eyed Girl Scouts take turns climbing aboard Stephanie Klang's Kenworth T680. They are enthralled by its size and the trucker showing them how to pull the air horn. "She's pretty," whispers one of the 6-year-olds gathered around the 2017 Overdrive's Most Beautiful, a company driver for Joplin, Missouri-based CFI. "And nice," says her friend, giggling as they try on Klang's glittery tiara. Later, after being presented with the Girl Scouts' Women in Trucking patch, Klang reminded them that girls indeed could grow up and drive trucks. What she didn't mention is that when she was their age, she vowed to work her way out of poverty – and how her hard-earned 37-year trucking career played a huge part in that journey. Klang, 58, shares some of the struggles of her early hardscrabble years when speaking to older girls about trucking as a career option. "I always felt ashamed by our family's reliance on welfare and food stamps," Klang says. She describes the mortification she felt when her single mother got disapproving looks in grocery stores. Or the embar- rassment she felt when receiving subsidized lunches at school. "Usually, there will be a child or two who pulls me aside after my talk and says, with tears, that my story is theirs, too," she says. Such encounters reinforce Klang's passion to give back to the industry she credits with enabling her to earn economic independence, buy a home and travel the country. "In the early years, I was learning," she says. "The MOST BEAUTIFUL Where image meets the road Overdrive's Visit the Featured Truckers playlist at youtube. com/OverdriveMag to see a video interview with Stephanie Klang. Overdrive's Most Beautiful winner spreads the word of how trucking served as her ticket to the good life BY CAROLYN MAGNER MASON Stephanie Klang credits CFI for not only helping establish her career but also opening doors that have allowed her to promote the trucking industry. Dan Allison / CFI

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• CAT ON A GREASY FIFTH WHEEL Wendy Parker’s pet feline snaps and nearly ruins her new couches.
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• COVER STORY: Path to prosperity Overdrive’s Most Beautiful winner Stephanie Klang spreads the word of how trucking served as her ticket to the good life.
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