Federal officials from Biden’s administration have announced 16 new women to help strategize on recruitment and retention of women in trucking! This federal advisory board consists of people from different parts of the trucking industry. Freight Waves reported, “The founding members of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Women in Trucking Advisory Board (WOTAB) include five current commercial truck drivers, four former drivers, trainers, and executives. They work for small, medium, and large trucking companies and as independent owner-operators. Others represent trucking associations, labor, and higher education.”
The WOTAB was authorized by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This bill was signed into law last year after data showed that there is a surprising amount of underrepresentation of women in the trucking workforce. Data also showed that women are 20% less likely than men to be involved in a crash, making them safer drivers. With truck-related crash rates on the rise, having an increase of women in the industry could help with this issue.
These efforts align with and are also a part of the Trucking Action Plan. This plan is dedicated to improving the job quality for existing truck drivers and efforts to recruit more truckers.
“Women are significantly underrepresented in the trucking industry, holding only 24% of all transportation jobs,” said FMCSA Deputy Administrator Robin Hutcheson. “We anticipate many great ideas from the advisory board that will help expand equity and safely provide access to careers in trucking for women across the industry.”
Here are the 16 members that will be on the board.
The board’s 16 members are:
- Anne Balay, organizer, Service Employees International Union (school/higher education).
- Joyce Brenny, founder, Brenny Transportation/Brenny Specialized (independent owner-operator).
- Jerri Banks, owner, Life on the Road Recruiting and Transportation Services (driver recruitment).
- Elisabeth Barna, vice president, American Trucking Associations (association).
- Enjoli DeGrasse, deputy director, International Brotherhood of Teamsters (labor).
- Marie Druckenmiller, director of transportation, Amazon (large carrier).
- Erin Ducharme, CFO, H&L Bloom/Bloom’s Bus Lines (motor coach).
- Laura Duryea, manager of recruiting, retention, and driver development, Boyle Transportation, (medium carrier).
- Marquita Jones, J.B. Hunt (driver).
- Kellylynn McLaughlin, Schneider National Inc. (driver).
- Dianne McNair-Smith, CEO, 3 Girls Trucking Academy (school/higher education).
- Sharae Moore, founder/president, She Trucking Foundation (association).
- O’Sheauna Parker, Haul (driver).
- Emily Plummer, Prime Inc. (driver).
- Soledad Munoz Smith, vice president of operations, Munoz Trucking (small carrier).
- Nicole Ward, co-owner, African American Women in Trucking Association (nonprofit).
The board has been tasked with providing recommendations on a few issues regarding this matter within the next 15 months, including:
- Evaluating barriers and trends that impact women in trucking and ways to support them in pursuing careers in the industry.
- Identifying opportunities to expand trucking roles for women and increase their overall numbers.
- Advising on policies that provide education, training, mentorship, or outreach to women in the industry.
- Reviewing opportunities to enhance safety, training, mentorship, and education for women in trucking.
We hope to see a rise in women in trucking with the effort being made at a federal level.
