BILLINGS — The People's Convoy, similar to the Canadian truckers' Freedom Convoy, left southern California on Wednesday morning.
Around 1,000 semi-truck drivers departed from Adelanto Stadium, a minor league ballpark about 85 miles east of Los Angeles.
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The convoy is expected to take an 11-day journey to Washington, D.C.
There is also another group called the American Truckers Freedom Convoy, planning a series of convoys from several different states including Montana.
![Peoples Convoy 1.jpg](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d3a552a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1080+0+0/resize/1280x720!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F4e%2F0b%2F48503c2f4c5a96d875df8af62e61%2Fpeoples-convoy-1.jpg)
The convoy is a protest of vaccine and mask mandates and was inspired by Canadian truckers.
"It's a little surreal," said Maureen Steele, truckers organizer for the People's Convoy. "The whole thing, to watch this come together on a national scale, to have senators calling you all of a sudden I mean, me. I'm the girl from Montana. People want a part of this. This is historical. Ours is peaceful."
![Peoples Convoy 4.jpg](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/499f2e5/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1080+0+0/resize/1280x720!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F5b%2Fca%2Ff0b91e7047ccbcca0b3479c36596%2Fpeoples-convoy-4.jpg)
Steele — who is from Condon — says groups will be forming mini-convoys, including from Montana to meet up with the big convoy.