Tag Archives: Women In Trucking

WIT August Member of the Month – Shelly Hoffman

Plover, WI (August 3)—Women In Trucking Association has announced Shelly Hoffman, professional truck driver, as its August Member of the Month.

Shelly cannot imagine doing anything else. When she originally proposed the idea of teaming to her husband, she had just been playfully kidding! But there had been no laughter once the laptop was open and they had begun to look into it. At that point, their professional careers ultimately had led them to disappointment, and now, three years later, their CDLs have been more rewarding than their academic degrees combined. Continue reading →

How you can find success before breakfast!

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Author Laura Vanderkam has written numerous books about the traits of successful people. She claims the “key to making myself happy is NOT to be a perfectionist.” In fact, she has researched the traits of successful women and how much time they devote to their careers.

The author was surprised to discover that women who work an average of 35 hours per week earn about $37,000 per year. However, the women in her study who earned in excess of six figures annually averaged 44 hours per week. That’s only a nine-hour per week difference for an almost threefold increase in salary.
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Silvia Chavez • WIT July Member of the Month

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Silvia Chavez • WIT July Member of the Month

Plover, WI (July 1)—Women In Trucking Association has announced Silvia Chavez as its July Member of the Month. Silvia is described as being a powerhouse of a woman. She is an Army National Guard veteran, having served six years as a medic. When her husband on active-duty had to relocate for work, the two picked up and moved from Fort Leonard Wood, MO to Fort Knox, KY.

“I’d constantly run across advertisements for CDL drivers,” said Silvia. “So I figured, why not? I got my license and training, and before I knew it, I was an over-the-road driver.” Continue reading →

Let’s look at aviation for innovations

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Although I have spent my entire career in the trucking industry, I have a passion for aviation as well. In 2008 I earned my private pilot’s certificate only a few weeks before graduating from a driver-training academy with my commercial driver’s license.

There are so many similarities between aviation and trucking. Both industries have a need for operators (pilots or drivers), mechanics, dispatchers and both groups are anticipating a severe shortage of personnel due to an aging demographic and regulatory changes.
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Is perfectionism holding women back in transportation leadership roles?

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Author Ann Wilson Schaef calls perfectionism “self-abuse of the highest order.” It could be a factor in why there are so few women in leadership roles in transportation.

Although it has become more common for companies to promote women into management areas, there is still work to be done to increase the percentage in transportation. For most industries, women comprise over half of senior leaders, but in the trucking industry, we’re at about fourteen percent today.
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Promoting all women in the trucking industry

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The Women In Trucking Association represents all women employed in the trucking industry. We represent the women who design the trucks, build the trucks, buy the trucks, fix the trucks and drive the trucks. If you are one of the five percent of female drivers or one of the fourteen percent of female managers in the trucking industry, we are here for you.

The overall purpose of the organization is to increase the percentage of women working in the trucking industry to utilize unrealized potential. As former US DOT Secretary ray LaHood said, “After all – regardless of gender – everyone uses our transportation systems, and those systems will serve us more effectively when they are planned, designed, engineered and built by the professionals who represent all of us. Continue reading →

From driver to leader….

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When we recently announced the 2015 Women In Trucking Influential Woman of the Year; there were many comments on social media about the absence of professional drivers from the list.

First, it must be noted that Stephanie Klang, a driver for Con-way Truckload and a former America’s Road Team Captain, was a finalist for the 2014 Influential Woman in Trucking award. Stephanie is a role model and has attained national respect for her skills and professionalism. I would suspect that she could find a position inside the walls of the terminal if she wished, but she prefers to remain behind the wheel. Continue reading →

Why does YOUR company need more women in leadership?

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“The closer that America comes to fully employing the talents of all its citizens, the greater the output of goods and services will be.”

Warren Buffett

The Women In Trucking mission includes encourage the employment of women working in the trucking industry. We understand that there is a need for professional drivers, and women are underrepresented in this area, but what about women in management?

You should strive for more women in your leadership roles. Not because it’s the right thing to do, but because it affects your bottom line. Pepperdine University found a correlation between high-level female executives and business success. The Harvard Business Review reported firms with the best records for promoting women outperform industry medians with overall profits thirty four percent higher. Catalyst research found that companies with the highest representation of women leaders financially outperform, on average, companies with the lowest.
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Focus on hiring veterans at the White House

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It’s no secret that the trucking industry is experiencing a need for qualified drivers. Many carriers have made a commitment to hire more veterans for both driving and managerial positions. However, the unemployment rate for veterans continues to be an area of concern for both employers and the government.

Did you know there were over 500,000 unemployed veterans as of December 2014 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics? They also reported that 1.5 million veterans were only employed in part time positions.
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Predictions for 2015 from Women In Trucking

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As we ring in a new year, it’s time to look ahead to 2015 and the positive and negative challenges we will be facing as an industry. While many of these are beyond our control (oil prices!), there are some that beg for change in both attitude and current practices.

Let’s look at some top issues for 2015 and how we can end the year in a better position for 2016.
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