The subject of our July cover story, Brita Nowak, knows about taking risks. She left her native Germany to work as an actress in Hollywood. Unlike most of the countless pretty faces who try the same thing, she succeeded for years.
Then she got her CDL, learned the ropes as a company driver, and soon took the leap of running under her own authority. Living in Jupiter, Florida, she was having trouble finding good loads out of the Sunshine State in the summer. She saw one going to New York, learned it was headed to Manhattan’s Chinatown, declined it, then reconsidered.
“So I called back again, and she said, ‘Well, if you’re uncomfortable, it’s alright,’ ” Nowak told my colleague, Deanne Winslett. “ ‘Many, many people already called on this load, and they all said the same thing that you did.’ … Maybe that’s what it was, what made me take it. If everybody said no, guess what? Then I’m going to say yes.”
Navigating Manhattan was not easy, but Nowak fell in love with the challenge. Later, she was asked to take on the run as a dedicated route. She agreed.
“It’s still scary, and that’s good,” Nowak said. “It should always be scary to me. That’s how you survive and how you don’t let your guard down. I love that run.”
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