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Woman Wrecker Driver Careful With Male Egos

Cheryl Bentley/SUNCOAST NEWS

Tow truck driver Sherri Lawson works on an AAA log sheet. Lawson knows of only two other full-time women tow truck drivers in the area.

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By Cheryl  Bentley | The Suncoast News

Published: January 7, 2008

Male egos sometimes get bruised when it comes to their inability to fix cars.

Sherri Lawson knows that.

She is, therefore, very gentle with guys when they are stranded in their cars alongside a busy road.

Lawson is a tow truck driver. She'll fix your tires, change your battery or tow you car when it's beyond repair.

She works the night shift from late afternoon to early morning taking up to 20 calls a night in her territory of Dunedin and Clearwater.

Lawson says she is one of the few full-time women tow truck drivers in the area. Her friends have named her Queen of the Road.

She has run into only two other full-time women in the field, in Clearwater and Seminole, Lawson says.

Since 1997, she has worked for Robert F. Pfeifer Auto Service in Dunedin. The business contracts with AAA Auto Club South for roadside emergency services.

As for the men who get a little bent out of shape when Lawson fixes a problem they can't, she has empathy.

"I'm patient. I can understand what it's like to stand on the side of the road with a car."

But that doesn't keep her from chuckling when she remembers the man who was laboring to remove a tire that was stuck on a brake drum.

Before she started, he told her, "You're going to make me feel this big if you come here and get it off."

The 5-foot-10-inch, 125-pound Lawson had seen the problem before and knew exactly what to do. "I sat down and kicked it," she recalls. "It popped right off."

In her 10 years on the job, she has had only three truly hostile customers.

"I gave them the choice of letting me straighten out the problem or leaving."
They all chose to have her stay.

In most cases, says her boss, Robert F. Pfeifer, people like having a woman on the job.

"It's a very calming situation when a lady pulls up, especially with females," he notes. "Even with males, it works."

Pfeifer heard about her from a male colleague who told him about someone "who was extremely talented."

But, the man added, there might be a problem. "She's a woman."

"I don't have a problem with that as long as she can do the job," Pfeifer responded.
The 42-year-old Lawson, who dropped out of Dunedin High School after the 10th grade for a more active life, has never let him down, Pfeifer says.

She knows her way around cars. "She's had a lot of experience with them. Her success rate is pretty much 100 percent."

On the job, the self-described "backyard mechanic" does not repair cars other than minimal tasks such as replacing batteries or changing tires. She tows broken-down cars to the garage.

But she usually has a sense of what is wrong with the vehicle.
The woman who as a child eschewed dolls for guns and bikes likes the independence of the road.

"I do everything on my own," she says.

Her job is often a dangerous one, she explains, noting a tow cable can decapitate a human if it breaks and snaps back at the truck operator.

Her favorite part of the job is towing wrecks because of the challenge. "You don't know what you're getting," she says. "It's always a challenge to get there, study the situation and figure out the best thing to do."

But the job also has its downside. "Sometimes, I see everything," she says about the aftermath of wrecks. She becomes quiet.

Is she ever afraid during her late night calls?

Not the spunky Lawson. She says she never shows fear.

"I carry myself well. I never back down," she said.

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