Disclaimer:

This story has graphic descriptions of rape and sexual assault that some might find disturbing. If you need support, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673 or access its online chat at online.rainn.org.

Christina drove a white Freightliner semi truck for three hours until she arrived at a Love’s truck stop in Cunningham, Kansas. She was shaking — terrified that the man she says raped her earlier that day at an Arizona rest stop would kill her.

The attacker was her co-driver Arthur Martyn, she said. They both worked for CRST, the Iowa-based trucking company that trained Christina that summer and later hired her as a driver. Martyn had sexually assaulted her twice during the cross-country delivery trip that began in California, she later told police.

After the second attack, Christina said Martyn got out of the semi truck at a remote truck stop in Kansas to make a call. She saw her chance to escape. Christina stepped on the pedal slowly and the truck crept forward. “Bitch! I’ll kill you,” she recalled Martyn yelling. She kept driving.

“I thought: I just have to live,” Christina said in a phone interview. She asked Public Integrity not to use her real name or mention where she lives to protect her safety.

Christina’s dream of traveling the country as a commercial truck driver ended that fall afternoon in 2019. Christina said CRST’s human resources staff discouraged her from reporting the rape to police. “They were scolding me. Like it wasn’t...

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