Truck driver, TikToker, mama — Charlotte’s Clarissa Rankin does it all
Update: The Charlotte gas station seen in Clarissa Rankin’s viral TikTok for overcharging on fuel was sued by the state of North Carolina for price gouging after the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack and shutdown in May. Rankin was named in the lawsuit because of her video. The lawsuit was settled in court in November.
Clarissa Rankin’s first instinct is to record. When she witnesses something out of the ordinary, when she finds herself feeling shocked, surprised, even encouraged, she documents it all. Not only for herself, but her 1.1 million followers on TikTok.
So in the midst of the Colonial Pipeline gas shortage on May 12, when she pulled her car over at an Exxon station in Charlotte and sat in line for 35 minutes, she already had her phone ready to capture any potential content she might witness. While in line, she saw police officers swarming the interior of the gas station due to a fight that had broken out. She heard shouting from cars ahead, and when she finally made it to the front of the line, she was catcalled.
“So by the time I pulled up to the pump, I wasn’t even looking at the gas price,” said Rankin, 34, of Charlotte.
Then, even though the limit was nine gallons per customer, the price rose faster than she had ever seen. She pulled out her receipt that listed a $9.99 per gallon price, with her total set to $90. She knew — it was time to press play.
“Being a content creator, I already know what’s trending, what’s poppin,’” Rankin said. “But you have to be on-camera ready. That phone’s got to be in your hand, ready to work immediately. You’ve got to be able to catch it.”
Rankin wears many hats. There is the hard hat, for her career as a truck driver. There is the mom hat, as the mother of her two sons, Shermoan, 15, and Joleel, 10. There is the business owner hat for her family’s company, Charlotte-based JC Rankins Transport.
And then there is the TikTok hat, in which she puts all of these roles on display for her fans.
Going viral when least expected
Rankin first began working as a truck driver five years ago. At the time, she regularly posted short, motivational, comedic videos. She would stare directly at the lens of camera, like it was a mirror to her target audience: women needing a confidence boost. In these videos, Rankin said she always aimed for honesty.
“I tell it like it is, I’m a country girl,” she said. “We are very Southern. We don’t be mean, we just tell you the truth.”
But no one shared them. People liked, commented and laughed, but Rankin was missing the growth and the large audience that she wanted. And after five years, she was ready to quit.
Then in January 2020, she downloaded TikTok. She posted her first video, a short dancing clip following a popular trend, and thought nothing of it. Around April, Rankin thought she was done posting her short motivational clips onto social media. Then her husband, Joey, encouraged her to move her signature “storytime,” conversation-esque videos to TikTok itself, instead of Instagram and her other platforms.
Then on May 6, she posted a video from her truck, talking about an encounter at a truck stop that morning — and got over 243,000 likes and over a million views.
“I was like, ‘This is the spot! This is it, this is it!’” Rankin said. “And it just took off from there. All my hard work was finally paying off.”
Behind the scenes
Rankin compares her online presence as part reality TV show and part big business. After more than a year on the app, of growing her fan base and her brand, Rankin has found her niche. She makes upfront, honest videos aimed to motivate viewers. Sometimes she records herself just talking at the screen, sharing stories about her day and her adventures on the road. She shares stories about her family, her job and of course, inflated gas prices.
“I break it down so people can see every aspect of my life, because I know that I can relate to so many people,” she said.
And her goal is to always listen to the requests of her audience.
“When I started realizing that they needed that motivation, I just started going with that,” Rankin said. “So within seven days, I posted about five videos of motivation, every morning on TikTok.”
But running a social media account is also a business because of how shareable and marketable the nature of social media content is. She offers promotions and sponsored content for brands and products through her own brand and website, Owtspoken. And the promotional material is mutually beneficial because as she promotes other businesses, she promotes her skills as an influencer — all bringing in a considerable income for her and her family.
“What I make in one 60-second video, I can make that a week in driving trucks,” she said.
A day in the life
Rankin never thought she would be a truck driver. She didn’t even like driving.
“My husband drove me everywhere,” she said.
At first, she wanted to be a broker, arranging the loads and trips. But when she and her husband started planning for their trucking company, she realized she ought to get her commercial driver’s license.
And the first time she sat behind the steering wheel of a truck, she fell in love.
“It was a different world,” Rankin said. “It’s like, I was so high up and I can maneuver this big old thing, and when I got the hang of that thing, you would’ve thought I was in the car.”
Now Rankin starts her day around 4:30 a.m. Every morning, she does her full hair and makeup.
“I’m not just a trucker, I am a woman,” she said.
She heads out to her truck and inspects it. And when she enters the cabin, she is transported.
Her truck, which she named Sparkle, is a sacred space. In the front of her is a ruffling feather, so as she drives she can see it waving in the wind and shining in the sun. She sits on a furry seat cover with a sparkling backdrop for all her videos.
In the back, behind her curtains, there is a comforter set with soft throw pillows and dangling lights overhead. On the side of the walls are murals and pictures of family and friends. And she has a refrigerator, all to herself. To Rankin, it feels like home.
“It makes me feel like I’m not on the road when I’m actually on the road,” Rankin said. “It’s a mini-mommy getaway.”
Normally, Rankin works four days a week, around 11 hours a day. She’s been as far north as Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, and as far south as Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi.
In the summer especially, she would book loads that went down to Florida, so she could drive by the coast, pull the truck over, put on her swimsuit and lay out on the beach.
But during the COVID-19 pandemic, she’s been at home with her sons more and more. Joleel, her youngest, was born with a heart defect putting him at high risk, so her sons have remotely for over a year. But working as a truck driver and owning her own business means she can create her schedule. So when Joleel had state-mandated tests toward the end of last year, she could just take the day off.
Sometimes Joleel and Shermoan join her on the road. They load up with candy and soft drinks, take turns pulling the air horn and spend the night at a truck stop, all to truly soak in what a trucker’s life is like.
But there are only so many times that she can handle hearing, “Mama, are we there yet?”
“It don’t happen often,” she said with a laugh. “But it is fun to have them with me. I’ve got my babies with me.”
What’s next?
Looking forward, Rankin has an upcoming deal as the face of a national travel center, and she is under contract for an unscripted reality TV show.
But one of Rankin’s long term goals is to be the first female truck driver to have a cosmetic line. And not only does she want to create that line, but she wants to make sure those cosmetics are available in every truck stop.
“I want to be the first,” she said. “And if I’m not the first, I want to be the best.”
She also wants to continue to be a role model of what it looks like to be a female truck driver, in a profession where 90% of the workers are men.
It’s hard, she said. It takes toughness, confidence and an attitude of taking no disrespect.
“You’ve got to be able to handle it,” Rankin said. “Everybody doesn’t care if you’re a woman, they’re going to talk to you like they want to talk to you.”
But Rankin wants to inspire people to lead with that confidence — especially younger generations.
She pictures her legacy like this: A young girl, wearing a hard hat, saying: “I always wanted to be a trucker because I watched Clarissa Rankin. Now look where she’s at.”
This story was originally published May 28, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
