Author Archives: Ellen Voie

About Ellen Voie

Ellen Voie founded Women In Trucking with the goal to promote the employment of women in this industry, remove obstacles that might keep them from succeeding, and celebrate the successes of its members.

We’re not there yet.

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A recent article about FMCSA Administrator, Anne Ferro, prompted numerous responses, but they weren’t all about the issue itself. Instead, the topic turned to gender and how the reader felt that Ms. Ferro was not qualified to head the administration because she is a woman.

I checked my calendar and it IS 2014, isn’t it? Can’t we get beyond the issue of gender? Apparently, we’re not there yet. Mr. Smith (obviously a pseudo name) claims “women getting into politics and other issues … are guiding us down, down, down.”
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Connecting female pilots and professional drivers

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The trucking industry is a male dominated one, but it shares this reputation with other modes of transportation that typically employ mostly men. Lillian Miller, who works for the Federal Aviation Administration, wanted to explore ways to attract more women into transportation careers. She recently released her research,“Women in Transportation are Moving the World.”

Miller compared the airline industry and its efforts to attract and retain women to the trucking industry. Female pilots comprise 6.3 percent of all airline pilots and number about 6,000, while the trucking industry lags at 5.2 percent female drivers, or about 180,000. Although a professional driver must reach age 21 to operate in interstate commerce, a pilot must be at least 23 years old to transport passengers.
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How can you attract and engage your female drivers

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If you are a typical trucking company, you have one female driver for every 19 males. This is the national average (around five percent). There are some carriers who enjoy a much higher female driver pool. What are they doing differently?

First, they have a culture that values and appreciates women. Years ago you could walk into a terminal and see more women in the mechanic’s calendars than you did in trucks. There were only men’s restrooms and showers and the few female drivers who entered the lounge were teased mercilessly.

Fortunately, that has changed, but not everywhere. There are some places that haven’t changed the environment and those are the carriers that have a hard time attracting women to the workforce.

Look at the company’s recruiting ads. Do they always show a male driver with his mind on the “wife and kids at home?” One recruiting ad said the company was looking for “a few good mustaches.” Another ad read “take your wife to the big island.” Do they really think women feel included in these recruiting efforts?

Are there women visible in management roles at the carrier? If so, women will feel welcomed and valued by the company when they see more women in leadership roles.

Another thing to think about is your pet policy. For many women, a pet is not only a companion, but a safety feature. A barking dog has scared away more than one predator in a parking lot and many women require a pet friendly company policy.

Following are ways some carriers that have joined Women In Trucking Association as corporate members are engaging their female drivers.

1. Find a way to bring them together. Host an event or give them all t-shirts that identify them as drivers for your company.
2. Sign them up as members of Women In Trucking so they can enjoy the benefits as well. They’ll receive invitations to networking events, opportunities for mentoring, a weekly e-newsletter, a lapel pin and membership card and more, for only $10 under the corporate membership.
3. Send them to the Salute to Women Behind the Wheel held each March at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Kentucky. They’ll receive a red t-shirt and a bag filled with goodies from the sponsors while they enjoy the chocolate fountains and entertainment. Visit salute2women.com for information about the event.
4. Direct them to the Women In Trucking Association Facebook page where over 5,000 drivers share tips, trials, and successes with one another. The site is monitored by drivers for drivers and the information is current and relevant.
5. Encourage your current drivers to mentor a newcomer. You can direct them to the Women In Trucking website, or just ask your own drivers to offer support and encouragement to those new to the company.

There are carriers that are becoming more aggressive in their efforts to recruit female drivers because of the benefits women bring. Not just as drivers filling a need, but as well qualified employees who bring a different perspective to the job.

As drivers, women take fewer risks according to Ron Kipling, author of “Safety for the Long Haul.” Kipling credits this trait as being related to differences in the level of testosterone between men and women.

Trucking company executives often tell me that women are better at completing their paperwork and often treat their equipment better than their male counterparts. Regarding communication, women are often viewed as being better with customers as well.

As trucks become more driver friendly and the freight is no longer being “fingerprinted” by drivers, the opportunity to become a professional driver extends beyond those who are big, muscular, and mechanically minded. The length of haul is getting shorter and time at home is viewed as crucial in attracting and retaining drivers.

Adding women to the driver pool is not just something we should do to fill a need; it’s something we should be doing because we have an opportunity to utilize under-represented potential.

As carriers, you can attract and retain more women and you should WANT to be increasing your percentage of female drivers. Use these suggestions and maybe you can enjoy more safe and conscientious drivers in your fleet.

Celebrating the women behind the wheel!

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Lillie Elizabeth Drennan never had an easy life. She was given up for adoption when she was three weeks old. She was raised by foster parents. Lillie lost much of her hearing when she contracted scarlet fever. She dropped out of school in fifth grade and worked for a telephone company until her hearing impairment made that the job difficult. She married when she was fifteen years old. She gave birth to a son and was a single, divorced mother by the age of 17. She was married and divorced two more times.

Lillie and her second husband, Ernest Drennan, divorced in 1929 and Lillie took over the trucking business she and Earnest had started. It was called the Drennen Truck Line and based in Hempsted, Texas. That same year, the Railroad Commission granted her a commercial truck driver’s license (CDL). They were reluctant to grant her the CDL because of her hearing impairment, but she demanded they look at her driving record and won her right to drive a commercial vehicle.

Although Lillie was a pioneer and paved the way for the next generation of female professional drivers, after 85 years there are still very few women who have followed her into the seat of a tractor-trailer. Today there are fewer than 200,000 women who are professional drivers.

When Lillie drove her first open cab Model T Ford, the job was physically demanding. In addition to general freight, she hauled oilfield equipment and explosives, sometimes for 48 hours at a stretch.

Today’s cabs are more comfortable and ergonomic and the driver doesn’t always handle the freight. No one drives for 48 hours at a time these days and carriers are looking at the driver more as a partner than a means for capacity.

The Salute to Women Behind the Wheel hosted by the Women In Trucking Association was created to honor the female professional drivers who are today’s Lillie Drennan. These women are still a minority and are often viewed as less capable than their male counterparts.

Each March, during the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Kentucky, Women In Trucking Association plans a celebration. In addition to bringing in some pretty impressive speakers, such as Anne Ferro (FMCSA), Deborah Hersman (NTSB), and this year, Rebecca Brewster (ATRI), the drivers and their families are treated to music and refreshments. The participants look forward to dipping fruit and snacks into the chocolate fountains. And this year, the 5th anniversary of the Salute, they enjoyed a cake in the shape of a truck.

Sponsors provide the funds to host this event and offer lots of great gifts in the goodie bags each female CDL holder receives. From coffee mugs to insulated coolers, water bottles, and many more gifts geared toward the professional driver’s needs. Exhibitors are on hand to attract the attendees to their companies and products.

Any member of Women In Trucking is invited to attend the Salute to Women Behind the Wheel each year, but only female CDL holders are given the gifts and honored for their service. Each woman wears a red “Salute” t-shirt and a group photo is taken at the end of the celebration.

It’s our way of thanking the women who share the road with men as they deliver our nation’s freight. Although it’s been many years since Lillie Drennan obtained her CDL, it will be many more years before a woman behind the wheel is a common sight.

That’s Women In Trucking’s mission, to encourage the employment of women in the industry, to address obstacles that might keep women from entering (or staying) in this industry and finally, to celebrate their success! That’s the reason for the Salute to the Women Behind the Wheel event in March at the Mid-America Trucking Show.

If you haven’t seen hundreds of women in their red t-shirts being honored for their service to the trucking industry, please join us when we celebrate at the Salute to Women Behind the Wheel next year!

Article from WIT-Finding common goals

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Recently I moved to a more remote area in Wisconsin. I love seeing the wildlife outside my window. I enjoy the turkeys, deer, rabbits, and many kinds of birds.

One especially beautiful male cardinal has become my wake up alarm each morning. He sees his reflection in the window and has determined that the image in the glass is his enemy. He sits on the tree branch and waits for the opportune moment to attack the bird in the window. He gathers his strength and lunges for the image, only to knock his head on the surface before resting on the branch, waiting for the next strike.

I find the process amusing, but I worry about how his little head is sustaining the blows. He can’t seem to take his focus off that red bird he considers is a threat and must be dealt with through physical means.

The cardinal reminds me of many of us in the trucking industry. We become focused on someone or something we consider to be a threat to us and we attack. Usually the attack is verbal, but it’s often because we cannot see things from the other’s perspective.

Drivers often feel their carriers are out to cheat them and some companies create policies to address the mistrust they feel for their drivers. The trucking industry feels under attack from legislators, regulators, and their competitors. We often operate in an atmosphere of suspicion. We think that image in the glass is going to hurt us, when in reality, it’s just a reflection provoking our wrath.

Think about your own situation and how your relationship with others could be more harmonious. Instead of assuming the other person is putting his or her own needs before yours, think about how you would act if you were in the same situation.

Whether you own the truck, drive the truck, or work on the truck, you have one goal in mind. You want to use the truck to earn a decent living, deliver the load for the customer, and get home safely. We should all be able to agree that this is our basic reason for being in the trucking industry.

If you are a driver, you can safely assume your company wants you to deliver the load, make an income, and get home to see your family. How can you work together to make that happen?

You might think your company values profit over their drivers, but if they operated solely with that goal in mind, I doubt any driver would be responding to their recruiting ads these days.

When it comes to your elected and appointed officials, you might feel as if they only care about being re-elected or that their goal is to put you out of business. If you really believe that, you have other issues with your thought process. They are focused on safety on the road, the environment, or whatever the mission their government entity was established to promote. You need to understand their vision and how you fit into that goal. Instead of attacking them, help them better understand the challenges the legislation places on your profession. Try looking out the window from their perspective instead of sitting outside and attacking the glass image, like my cardinal friend.

When I look at a tractor-trailer on the highway, I might see one name on the cab, another on the trailer, and a third name on the container, but I see one driver who is responsible for getting the load to the customer. Just like that one truck, there are so many parts to the trucking industry and so much dissension between the different groups, an outsider would be amazed to see the lack of cooperation while the goal for all involved is the same. Get the load delivered, earn a decent living, and get home safely is the mission.

Don’t be like the cardinal who feels threatened by something he sees, but doesn’t exist. He’s bashing his head for no reason. Stop viewing others as a menace and focus on the industry’s quest to get you home safely with money in your pocket.

Becoming an Owner-Operator

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Many professional drivers dream about owning their own tractor. For many, it’s a way to have more control over their schedule, but for others it’s more about the pride of ownership. Either way, the difference between moving from company driver to owner-operator involves more than a name change on the vehicle title.

An owner-operator is no longer a professional driver as much as he or she is a business owner. Instead of making a phone call to your carrier when your tire is flat, you make a phone call to a repair shop, and that involves a credit card number. In fact, nearly everything you do as an owner-operator requires a credit card or a healthy checking account.

The challenge is in managing more than your schedule; you now need to manage the business side of the operation as well. Joe Robinson, author of “Work to Live,” identified a list of characteristics shared by the most successful entrepreneurs. Using a University of Maryland study by J. Robert Baum and Edwin Locke, the researches found the following seven traits successful business owners share.

Tenacity, or determination and persistence, is vital for anyone who decides to take the financial risk of owning a truck. There will be a lot of setbacks and obstacles that will get in the way of your progress, so a focus on the long-term goal is vital. A mechanical breakdown or personal setback will make you question whether you can survive the challenge, but tenacity will keep you going.

The second trait is passion. Without “an intense desire or enthusiasm” for your business, you’ll fail. If your goal is merely to make money, you might be able to accomplish that in other ways. Most owner-operators have a passion for the lifestyle or they wouldn’t invest a large amount of money into a big truck.

The authors use the phrase, “tolerance of ambiguity” to describe the characteristic toward risk-taking, or an acceptance of potential failure. Ask any business owner what keeps him or her up at night and they’ll quickly give you a list of their fears. From paying bills to making a career mistake, the uncertainty over your future success keeps many people from taking a risk as an owner-operator.

Without a vision, an entrepreneur wouldn’t be able to see a better future as a business owner. Identifying an opportunity means looking forward and making that chance into a reality. Maybe it’s a great deal on a truck that made you start thinking about leasing to a carrier instead of just driving for them. Every trucking company today started with someone who had a vision when they bought that first truck.

An entrepreneur must have self-confidence and the belief that he or she can and will succeed in their new venture. Knowing that you are going to provide a service that is desired and needed should give you the security in moving into a new opportunity. If you lack belief in yourself you won’t succeed.

The sixth characteristic of a successful entrepreneur is flexibility. You must be able to react quickly and respond to changes in your business. If you depend on one customer and lose that contract, you’ll need to be ready with a back up plan to implement right away. Being flexible means you will be more adept at dealing with change.

The final trait needed to be successful as a business owner is the tendency to break rules. No, this doesn’t mean running over the speed limit or lying on your tax return, it means that a tendency to take risks will help you move beyond your peers’ comfort zone. That’s what makes a good entrepreneur: the ability to defy conventional wisdom.

If you’re thinking about becoming an owner-operator and you are concerned about whether you have it in you or not, consider these traits of successful business owners before you take the first step. If you feel confident that you can be flexible and self confident in making your vision a reality, then go for it!

Eight things your neighbor probably doesn’t understand about professional drivers

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The public perception of professional drivers has often been based on misunderstanding due to the media and movie industry’s portrayal of these hard working men and women. Although there are numerous image campaigns in the trucking industry, most of them focus on the importance of the industry itself instead of trying to change the image of the person behind the wheel.

Your neighbor might not understand what your life is like as a professional driver and more importantly, how your job affects their lifestyle. Here are eight things your neighbor probably doesn’t know about you, but should. This list isn’t comprehensive and I’m sure you can think of many more things you’d like your friends to know about your career, but this is a start. Continue reading →

Thanksgiving and Giving Thanks

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As the leaves turn to bright colors and drop from the trees, we anticipate a change in seasons and the coming of winter holidays. November in the U.S., October in Canada, brings Thanksgiving and a time to reflect on the past year as we share the day with our family and friends.

Thanksgiving was designed as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest. In the U.S., we attribute the observation to the Pilgrims who emigrated from England to the land of opportunity. Some of these settlers moved north into Canada and the traditions were observed in their new environment.

For many, the holiday is a day off from work; although in the trucking industry, that’s not as common. We combine family, friends, and food and, perhaps a parade or football game on television. The focus is on the important things we all share and how our lives are better because of these people and things.

Regardless of our financial or physical situation, we all have something to be thankful for this year. Robert Quillen, an American journalist, once said, “If you count all your assets, you always show a profit.”

If you’re still not ready to spend the day focusing on things you should be thankful for, consider your health. People who count their blessings are healthier and happier than those who don’t. A 2003 survey in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology suggests keeping a list of things you are thankful for will give you a better outlook on life and a more positive attitude.

For students, grateful high-schoolers have better grades and more positive social interaction according to a 2010 study in the Journal of Happiness studies. They are also less depressed than their peers. So encourage your children to be thankful each day, but especially on Thanksgiving.

If you have trouble falling asleep, try making a list of things you are thankful for and you’ll not only fall asleep faster, you’ll stay asleep longer according the an article in the journal of Applied Psychology called Health and Well-Being.

Grateful people make better friends and often have better relationships with their spouse or partner and help promote team happiness when they are involved in team sports (Huffington Post, November, 2012).

Most importantly, being thankful can reduce hypertension and the chance of sudden death for those with coronary artery disease or congestive heart failure (according to a study in the American Journal of Cardiology, 1995). Your immune system also benefits from a positive attitude according to a University of Utah study on law students and pessimism.

Eating turkey and reclining in front of the television might not be the most healthy way to spend a holiday, but if you integrate thankfulness and gratitude you can offset some of the negative effects of the food and lack of activity.

A wikiHow article offers six steps to being more thankful.

1) Relax (reduce anger and frustration to allow positive thoughts)

2) Live in the moment (stop dwelling on the past)

3) Focus on using your senses: smell, savor, touch, and listen

4) Cherish lightheartedness, like laughter, affection and playfulness

5) Take a vacation (even if it’s a day away from work)

6) Keep a gratitude journal. It’ll remind you of things you have been grateful for in the past.

Giving thanks takes practice, but over time it becomes less challenging and will help make your overall attitude more positive. Thanksgiving is intended as a day to give as a reason to reflect on all the things we should be thankful for.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving from all of us at Women In Trucking Association.

Women in business, includes women in trucks!

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In the wake of “Lean In” and other recent books touting the need for more women in leadership roles, I wondered how some of their revelations could be applied to women in the trucking industry.

Instead of focusing on the executive suite, how do some of these findings affect the rare (5 percent in the U.S. and 3 percent in Canada) woman who has chosen a career as a professional driver?

First, research has revealed that men will apply for a position (and assume they can meet the criteria) when they have sixty percent of the qualifications listed for the job. For women, the number is one hundred percent. She won’t even apply for a job if she feels there is an aspect of the role that she hasn’t mastered.

In effect, a man will assume he can learn the other requirements and a woman assumes she must already know them. How might this affect the driver population as a recruiting issue?

While backing and shifting are two of the most difficult skills a driver must have (or learn), a man might go for the job and figure out a way to grow into the needed skills. For women, these skills might prove to be in the forty percent of the job requirement they feel they don’t already have and so she will refrain from applying.

How can we convince these women they can and will master these skills?

Another study found that men are often hired for their potential, but women are hired based on what they have accomplished. How might this affect your recruiting efforts?

The days of hiring those strapping young farm boys are over. As more automation replaces the family farm, the kids who drove tractors, bailers, and corn harvestors at the age of twelve are gone.

Today, many of the drivers recruited into the industry come from almost every walk of life, from attorney to nurse to construction worker. The guy with limited experience driving the forklift in a warehouse may often be hired before his female co-worker from the assembly line.

Experience trumps potential and for professional drivers, this attitude too often favors men.

One more factor that affects hiring practices relating to gender relates to how we credit those around us. It has been found that men give themselves credit for their accomplishments, where women, too often, give credit to others.

How could this affect our hiring and the retention of female drivers? Is it more typical for guys to need the support of those around them or is that an attribute that women are more likely to experience? If it`s been proven that women look toward their peers for encouragement and advice, then we need to consider how this might affect them in their role as a professional driver.

In fact, many women who enter the trucking industry find themselves in an environment that is less than supportive and sometimes even hostile. Ask any female driver how SOME of her male colleagues treat her on the road or at the truck stop on the CB and you’ll hear stories about a few drivers who feel women shouldn’t be sharing the road in an 18 wheeler.

How sad. Despite how remote the incident, no woman should ever have to listen to a peer harass her when she’s just doing her job.

Most drivers are supportive and accommodating, but the one or two vocal jerks on the road always seem to be the loudest.

A supportive environment, an employer who understands how to remove bias in hiring, and a job that is free from harassment will help us attract and retain more women in trucking.

Next week: Free Webinar exclusive to WIT members

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Women In Trucking Association is offering its members a FREE webinar event called Taking Your Business to the Next Level Join industry leader and executive coach with TranStrategy Partners, Joel McGinley, as he presents strategies and tactics for creating a world class business no matter what size company you are.

Developing a world class business is not just for the large business; any business that chooses can be a world class business. Joel will walk you through strategies and tactics that help you understand:

How to manage your people to achieve consistent high performance all the time.
How to create a thriving company culture that propels your business forward.
What and how to use value maximizing key performance indicators in your business.

This success building webinar is at 3 p.m. EDT, Sept. 10, and last approximately 90 minutes with opportunities for questions and answers. Register now!

Take advantage of this TranStrategy Partners webinar offering exlusive to WIT Members!