Name: Charlie Painter

Species: Cougar (aka puma or mountain lion)

Eye color: Green

Occupation: Owner-operator truck driver/fleet manager

CB radio handle: Big Mama

Voice: Holly Hunter (https://youtu.be/UmF4GSa6oc8)

Parents: Unknown

Siblings: None

Orientation: Aromantic pansexual

Love interest: None; not interested. Trucking is the only thing she loves doing, and she doesn't need a guy or gal or anyone else in her life to be happy.

Likes: Being on the road, running her business, seeing the country

Dislikes: Disrespectful drivers, traffic jams, the negative trucker stereotype

Personality: Charlie is an independent, adventurous, hardworking gal who loves being in her truck on the open road and running her business, despite the difficulties that come with both. Rather blunt and direct, as well as polite and funny. Can be charming without being flirtatious (she's not interested in romance in the least). Is also rather extroverted. She is mechanically savvy and knows her way around a diesel engine, can fix any problems.

History: When Charlie was just a kid, she was fascinated by the big trucks rolling down the highway. That fascination stayed with her as she got older. While growing up she was consistently told that trucking and heavy machinery were not a girl's job. Those comments only made her more determined to follow her dream. After high school she went to trade school, 2 years diesel mechanic course, with Associate's Degree when she was about 21.

     She applied to several local trucking companies, and one of them took a chance on her and hired her. Charlie picked up on the new job rather quickly. She spent 3 weeks doing mostly local work, then 3 weeks with an experienced driver/tutor, then out on her own in her own truck. It was a good company to work for, boss was nice, all that stuff. Somewhere along the line however, management changed and things went downhill. New boss berated employees, frequently cut corners and skipped on maintenance, etc. One employee was involved in a pretty serious accident when their truck jackknifed from faulty brakes, thanks to shoddy repairs. Charlie was very passionate about her job, and it pained her to see such a good company being run so poorly. After 10 years of working for the company, she quit and started her own, Catamount Freight Lines, determined to run it correctly.

     Her trucking operation started off pretty small, just a couple of trucks and a small number of employees. As time went by, Catamount become more and more profitable, more employees were hired, more trucks bought, more trailers, etc. Today Catamount is a pretty sizable operation. Unlike the new management at her former employer, everyone is treated with respect, excellent maintenance record, good safety record as well.

     Though Charlie owns the company and is in charge of maintenance, accounting, and other stuff, she is often out on the road like her employees, hauling all kinds of stuff across the country, coast to coast and everywhere in between. Food, electronics, building materials, medical supplies, farm and construction equipment, clothes, and much more.

     She, like other truckers, works hard to keep the economy going, but has to deal with disrespect from the average driver while out on the road, like being cut off in traffic, tailgated too close, others driving in their blind spots, etc. Not only that, but also the negative stereotype of truckers as loud, smelly, foul-mouthed, overweight, and uneducated. If it weren't for truckers like her, grocery stores would run out of food, gas stations would run out of fuel, raw materials couldn't get to manufacturers, nor could they get finished products out to consumers. Also, pharmacies and hospitals wouldn't get replenished with medicine and supplies.

     Despite the disrespect and negative stereotype, Charlie loves her job and there's nothing else in life she'd rather do more than trucking.

Relation to Zootopia: Sometimes listens to Alan Wilde's music while out on the road or doing paperwork (logbook, financial/tax stuff, etc.); Nick's mother is Alan's adoptive sister, Alan is pretty much Nick's uncle.
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Other info:

*Real-life truck she owns and drives would be a 2006 Peterbilt 379, champagne color w/ burgundy front fenders (https://www.truckpaper.com/listings/trucks/for-sale/31425285/2006-peterbilt-379).

*Prefers her coffee black, no creamer or sweetener.

*As well as driving her truck over long distances in all kinds of weather conditions (rain, snow, etc), she is also involved with loading and unloading cargo, cleaning out trailers, planning routes, interacting with dispatchers, and logging all trucking activities. She also monitors wear and tear and maintains her trucks and equipment. Her business-related duties as an owner-operator include establishing a solid pipeline of work to maximize profit. Other tasks include accounting stuff, like submitting tax info and calculating business expenses to determine net income. As owner of her business, her other responsibilities are scheduling maintenance on her company's vehicles, complying with regulations, training new employees, and purchasing new company vehicles.

As well, she also finds and picks loads to haul via electronic load board, as do her employees.

*Prefers country music; sometimes listens to Alan Wilde.

*During her downtime, she usually reads, listens to music, watches TV, stretches, checks trip plans, etc. When she has time between hauling loads, if there is a park or resort or some other attraction nearby, she'll visit. Also likes taking pictures, as well as collecting souvenirs (coffee mugs, t-shirts, etc).

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Quotes:

* "Sorry boys, my heart belongs to the open road."

* "Breaker 1-9, breaker 1-9, this is Big Mama. We got a Kojak with a Kodak by yardstick 37, y'all be careful out there. Don't want anybody gettin' a drivin' award now." (Breaking in on CB radio channel 19 to warn other truckers about a police officer with a radar gun by mile marker 37. Don't want anybody getting a speeding ticket.)

*Pic by CalicoPikachu on Discord*