Jeanette Lonergan estimates she’s driven more than 2 million miles in the freight hauler she and her husband own. Their work takes them all over the country — in that way, Lonergan’s career as a truck driver reflects her upbringing. Having grown up as a “military brat,” Lonergan said her Navy dad’s assignments took her family to Washington state, California, and even Japan, which is where she met her husband.

“I’m like a pilgrim,” she joked.

However, Lonergan never anticipated she’d one day end up as the owner and operator of her own freight business, working alongside her husband as independent contractors for the military, logging hundreds of thousands of miles on the road every year.

It’s workers like Lonergan whom the Biden administration apparently ignored when it passed a rule last year threatening everything she’s worked so hard to build.

Now 55 years old, Lonergan started out as a school bus driver while her husband worked as a truck driver for a local company. She worked long hours during the day, and he worked nights. 

Eventually, Lonergan said they got so sick of never seeing each other that they decided if one of them was going to have to work the night shift, then they might as well do it together. So she moved from a bus to a freight hauler, and when the opportunity to buy their own truck presented itself, Lonergan said they jumped on it.

The ability to work for themselves in this way not only has brought with it new financial opportunities, she told IW Features for its series “Behind the Wheel,” but it has also given Lonergan a chance to defy expectations. After all, female truckers aren’t exactly a common sight, she admitted. In fact, the Women in Trucking Association estimates just 12% of professional truckers are women.

“Everyone has a concept about truck drivers and what they do,” she told IW Features. “They think drivers maybe are not as smart, maybe not as involved, but when you meet people who are in trucking, it’s a completely different thing. For women, this actually is a great career. There are no glass ceilings because the people you get your freight from don’t know who you are. They’ll give you freight as long as you’re on time and you’re professional.”

Working as independent contractors has also given Lonergan and her husband much-needed flexibility with their time. They’ve been able to invest in their community and church and, importantly, serve as the primary caregivers for Lonergan’s father-in-law while still working full-time. 

But a rule by the Biden administration’s Labor Department redefining which workers can be classified as independent contractors now threatens all of this. The rule, finalized last year, could force larger companies to consider contracted truckers such as Lonergan as employees instead — a financial and regulatory burden many companies might decide isn’t worthwhile. That means many independent truckers could end up out of work. 

Lonergan said the rule not only jeopardizes her financial security, but also her right to choose the kind of work that best fits her and her family’s needs.

“If we wanted to be company drivers, we would be company drivers,” she said. “Clearly, the Biden administration doesn’t look at independent contractors as an integral part of the economy and country. But independents, we made this country. Every big business once started as a small business.”

More broadly, forcing independent contractors out of work could upend the U.S.’s economic and national security — especially when it comes to the trucking industry. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, nearly 1 million truckers in the U.S. are self-employed. And out of the millions of freight haulers on the road at any given time, Lonergan estimates her and her husband’s truck is just one of 3,000 that are equipped to haul vital military cargo. 

Losing just a few of these drivers could result in gridlock the country isn’t prepared to handle.

That’s why it’s so important the incoming Trump administration prioritizes reversing the Labor Department’s independent contracting rule, Lonergan argued. 

“You can’t afford to lose independents because many will get out of the industry,” she said. “We’re not replaceable. Everyone thinks we are, but we’re not. You can’t quantify what we’ve put into this.”