DATE: Saturday, July 26, 1997               TAG: 9707260375

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:   91 lines

DRIVING AMBITION VERONICA D. PINKNEY YEARNS FOR THE DAY SHE CAN PAY HER BILLS WITHOUT FEDERAL HELP, BUT HER EFFORTS TO GET TRAINING FOR A JOB SHE THINKS SHE CAN DO HAVE FAILED. AND COME FALL, WELFARE RULES CHANGE.

For months now, Veronica D. Pinkney has been leaving notes for truck drivers.

``Would you show a single parent trying to get a job how to drive?'' she asks in notes she posts on 18-wheelers.

Pinkney sees getting behind the wheel of one of the big rigs as her way to leave welfare in the rearview mirror.

``I'd just like a steady income,'' said Pinkney, 26 and the mother of a 7-year-old. ``My son and I have walked to every place where we see a truck. We've even knocked on doors. Some say no. Most of them just don't take me seriously.''

What scares Pinkney is what might happen a few months from now if folks continue to find her career ambition a joke.

She has strived to become independent for years. She enrolled in the Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority's self-sufficiency program - designed to help welfare recipients become self-supporting - way before there was talk of welfare reform.

But she's worried her name will still be on the federal assistance list in October - when the rules for federal aid will change.

Orgia H. Jackson, coordinator of the family self-sufficiency program, said Pinkney's job ambition is the most unusual one the Suffolk agency has had. It's more familiar with participants needing help developing clerical skills or finding child care, Jackson said.

While the city has about 820 families that receive temporary federal aid, only about 70 people are participating in the housing authority's self-sufficiency program. The agency expects the numbers to increase drastically with welfare reform.

Five years ago, Pinkney never imagined she'd be worried about government handouts. She was at home in Daytona Beach, Fla., attending college. She wanted to follow in the footsteps of teachers in her family. History would be her specialty, she thought.

After Pinkney's freshman year, her mother died, and Pinkney was financially strapped.

She saved enough money to move to Suffolk, where a girlfriend had come a year before. Once in Suffolk, she enrolled in the self-sufficiency program, thinking she'd become a stenographer. And she worked several jobs, so she could buy a car. Each place that hired her went out of business or laid her off, along with other employees.

While she was working in the shipping and receiving department at one job, she was asked to back up a small dump truck. Pinkney said she made it look easy.

``I caught on quick,'' said the 5-foot, 8-inch Pinkney, who wears her dark brown hair in a braid. ``I thought it was fun. It didn't hit me until last year that I wanted to drive. . . . I said to myself, `Why not? Maybe that's my knack.' ''

Pinkney began searching the classified ads, looking for places where she could arrange free training. The car she'd purchased no longer worked. But she didn't mind walking.

What was advertised as free, she found, cost more like $2,000 to $3,000 - an exorbitant amount for a mom living off sporadic child-support checks and rent subsidies from the federal government, between layoffs.

She learned from a truck driver that she could go to the Department of Motor Vehicles to take a test to get her learner's permit. She saved enough money from work at a local convenience store to pay for it. And she plunked down the $130 she needed for a physical examination and eye test.

Now she needs driving experience to get her commercial license.

In addition to her truck-to-truck campaign for training, Pinkney has called trucking companies around Hampton Roads and asked for instruction. But no one has said yes.

``I just want somebody to train me to drive, show me the pre-trip inspection,'' Pinkney said. ``Maybe I'm not saying the right things, or maybe it's because I'm the wrong gender. I know they train men and hire them. But they tell me they want experience.''

Pinkney said that if she can get her commercial license, she'll gladly reach out to others.

She pictures herself training them in a ``little tore-up truck with a lot of character. It'll be royal blue with a few rust spots.''

It'll be paid for, with her own money, she vows.

``It'll be nice to work a job where you can pay your rent and other bills without having any federal help,'' Pinkney said. ``It's a freedom that I have to have.''

She also hopes, one day, to park a truck next to those she once posted with her notes. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

JOHN H. SHEALLY II

The Virginian-Pilot

IN A RACE AGAINST TIME

Veronica D. Pickney is searching for someone to give her experience

driving an 18-wheeler.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu