Trucking as an industry is all about the people, the drivers, dispatchers, safety operators, and more that work day in and day out to serve communities coast to coast. While the majority of truckers are still men, the number of women in the trucking industry is growing every day. Ellen Voie,  President and CEO of the Women in Trucking Association, shares that 83% of women who join the trucking industry do so after hearing about it from a family member or friend.  The organization’s mission is to increase the ranks of women employed in transportation careers. 

In this episode of Drive, Ellen dives into steps that trucking companies can take to make sure more folks across genders are aware of the opportunities in the trucking industry and why gender diversity makes companies better. 

Compelling Quotes:

• [03:23] “The part that I love about the trucking industry is that it’s people. It’s not trucks. It’s not freight. It’s not warehouses. It’s people.” 
• [10:35] “We’re trying to get the trucking industry to say, women do think differently, but it doesn’t mean the way we think is not a good way. It just means we’re different.
• [11:43] “People have this misconception that trucking is dirty and that you need a lot of brawn and that you’re away from home for a long period of time. None of those are true anymore. We have jobs where you can be home every day or every night.”
• [12:33] “We’re not giving the non-trucking public a good enough idea of what our industry looks like, and that’s what we’re trying to change at Women in Trucking.”
• [13:50] “83% of women who come into the industry do so at the urging of a family member or friend.”
• [15:03] “It’s been proven that when you have a more diverse leadership team, it increases your net profit.”
• [24:06] “We can’t just talk the talk. We have to walk the walk. We need to get drivers home more often. We need to create a better work-life balance because we don’t have the drivers who stay out for three months at a time anymore.”