My name is Beth Allen, and I’m a USPS tractor-trailer operator in Lexington, KY.
I got my commercial driver’s license in 1990. My first husband and I went to truck driving school and worked as a team.
After years of driving semis, my stepmom in Texas — who was a rural carrier with a 120-mile route — persuaded me to apply for a job with the Postal Service.
I started as a part-time rural carrier in Ohio, driving a school bus on the side, and became a career carrier in 2008. I absolutely loved it.
But my first love was always driving semis, and when I found out about the opening in Lexington, I went for it. I got my foot in the door by becoming a contractor for Lexington’s main Post Office, and I applied for the open position in February 2022. I was hired that July.
In Ohio, I lived on a 6-acre farm. I wanted more, and in Kentucky, I got it. I now have 62 acres with cattle, horses and chickens.
My children can all drive heavy equipment. The oldest daughter drives backhoes and bulldozers, the middle daughter drives a roll-off container truck, and my son is into tractors.
I’m in the process of finishing up the house now. Until then — you’ve heard of a farmdi-minium? I live in a farmdi-minimum. It’s a converted horse trailer with a kitchen, bathroom, shower and sleeping quarters, also known as LQ, or living quarters.
I just love truck driving. I’ve had my commercial driver’s license for 34 years, and I have a clean record and no accidents.
I also love coming home to my farm.
“On the Job,” a column on individual employees and their contributions to the Postal Service, appears regularly in Link.
