Before embarking on his weekly 2,000-mile trip as a truck driver, Derric Schmid sets up his smart TV and preps meals in bulk like ham and potatoes.To some, long hours on the road away from family and friends sounds grueling. But for Schmid, its his way of life.I love the freedom, Schmid said. I get paid to go see the country. Ive spent New Years Eve in New Orleans, Ive spent it in St. Louis and this year I spent Christmas out in California exploring.Schmid is the vice president and senior diversity officer ofLGBTQ+ Truck Driver Network(TDN), a nonprofit he runs with founder Bobby Coffey-Loy. TDN aims to foster inclusivity and safety in the truck driving industry by building a supportive network of allies and queer truckers.Photo: Derric SchmidThe organization vets companies (Schmid says he calls 50-100 per week) to understand which are committed to creating safe spaces for drivers of all backgrounds. Schmid and Coffey-Loy also host the Big Gay Trucker Podcast, where they interview people who need advice or want to discuss taboo topics.Coffey-Loy said meeting people from different walks of life, including trans people recovering from surgeries while on the road, inspired him to create TDN.It just opened me up to a whole group of people that just needed representation, Coffey-Loy said. There are groups out there on [social media] pages, but nobody actually took it as far as a nonprofit organization.Coffey-Loy drives with his partner of 17 years, Ricky, for a company called Luna Lines. Together they drive about 6,000 miles a week, taking turns sleeping or keeping one another company. On Monday, they typically start a load in Jacksonville and then drive to New Mexico, Chicago, Baltimore, Tennessee and end up back home in Palm Coast, Fla., by Friday. They even pay for all their gas and food while on the road.Doing a weekly cross-country road trip in tight quarters with your partner can be trying, and Coffey-Loy will be the first to admit that: Your partner is someone that knows how to push your buttons faster than anybody else, he laughed.But he also said starting truck driving together eight years ago is what made him and his husband closer. Before driving, he said it felt like life and jobs sometimes got in the way of their relationship. Going to trucking school together and being able to support each other on the road over the years has sparked a different kind of connection in their lives.We didnt want to be apart from each other, so thats what made trucking work for us, he said.For both Schmid and Coffey-Loy, truck driving runs in the family. Schmid, whos been driving trucks for almost 24 years and with TDN for more than two, calls Jonestown, Pa., home a borough with a 2023 population of 1,645. He had three uncles and a grandfather who were truck drivers.Photo: Rickey (left) and Bobby (right) Coffey-LoyCoffey-Loy, born and raised in West Virginia, said his father and grandfather were truck drivers.Continuing family tradition is respectable enough, but Coffey-Loys mission of creating a safe and supportive space for those in the industry was unique; it was difficult for his parents to accept his identity when he first came out.Coffey-Loys parents passed away 11 months apart last year. He said they learned to grow to love him for who he was. When TDN started up, they became mom and dad to everyone, and even invited people with no familial structure to move in with them.At get-togethers, his dad called everyone sweetie or honey to be respectful since he didnt know how everyone identified.What theyve taught me is, if they can change their mind and they can accept everybody, anybody can, Coffey-Loy said. I will cherish it forever. I miss them every day.And the impact of this lesson has been tried and true. TDN attended the Mid-America Trucking Show despite receiving death threats and facing extra security measures yet they ran through dozens of handouts before their station even opened. Another year, they handed out condoms to promote safe sex on the road and were met with backlash yet they went through a whole box on the first day.We didnt want to be apart from each other, so thats what made trucking work for us.Bobby Coffey-LoyThe team behind TDN may be small about eight people but Schmid said their reach is wide. Thousands of people visit their social media pages from around the world and connect with each other, including a vocal German bus driver and a man from Africa trying to create more queer visibility in his area.Coffey-Loy said many people contact him directly for support. There was a straight man who called who had trouble balancing his home life and truck driving hours and expressed suicidal thoughts. The man said he saw Coffey-Loys number and needed someone to talk to.Moments like those are why Coffey-Loy emphasizes that the organization is there to support everyone, not solely the LGBTQ community. He recalled a bonfire gathering where people of different backgrounds and identities laughed and talked as friends.Its why you do what you do, Coffey-Loy said.Although TDN has given many people a family away from home, it doesnt make losing time with family and friends any easier. Coffey-Loy missed a family members funeral in West Virginia because he was in New Mexico and couldnt abandon his load.He had already been buried before I could get back, he said.Its a different way of life, but its not an impossible one. Schmid calls his mom and stepfather every morning and his mom again in the evenings. He gets on group calls with friends and TDN members. On weekends, Schmid sees some friends in person for dinners, and is able to visit with his family.Truck driving may mean frequently saying goodbye to close people in his life, but it also opens the door to new connections around the country: I got friends in every state, Schmid said.Although hes constantly traveling, Coffey-Loy always feels at home. Its those nights driving, with nothing but the roaring hum of the road filling the silence while his husband sleeps behind him, that fulfill him.Even though you miss so much of your everyday life, theres something about trucking that is so freeing, Coffey-Loy said. The road can be so loud in your life, and it has a way to really sort out things. Its like therapy for me.The post Beyond the highway: How LGBTQ+ truck drivers are paving the way for change appeared first on News Is Out.