Trucking has commonly been perceived as a male-dominated business, but today’s industry numbers thousands of talented women among its ranks and for good reason. The wide variety of career opportunities for people in trucking is tough to beat—at the fleets that run trucks, the manufacturers that build their vehicles, and the organizations that support them.
Fleet Owner is proud to recognize and honor the women who are helping to build the trucking industry of tomorrow by profiling a few of the many outstanding women in trucking today. Those chosen for the Fleet Owner Dozen offer excellent examples of just how varied career opportunities for women can be in an industry so essential to our overall economic strength. It is our hope that this will, in some small way, help to encourage still more women to choose careers in this vital and varied industry.
Four come from Fleet Owner’s core audience, upper management at fleet operations; however, those operations run the gamut from a small private fleet hauling produce to one of the country’s largest private distribution fleets, from a midsized truckload carrier to an LTL giant. And one represents the many women who have discovered fulfilling careers behind the wheel of a truck.
Any industry as large as trucking also requires cooperative organizations that foster the general well-being of its many participants. Four of the women in our dozen represent these vital support groups, offering essential research resources, regulatory guidance, operational advantages, and career support.
And three of our profiled dozen come from some of the industries that design, build and support the equipment every fleet needs—the truck OEMs, trailer builders, and component suppliers.
Choosing just 12 from the thousands of women who work in trucking wasn’t easy. And obviously we’ve overlooked many who are also worthy of recognition for outstanding achievements. But check out the next Fleet Owner Dozen in 2017 as we intend to make this celebration of success an annual feature.
- Susan Alt, senior vice president-public affairs, Volvo Group North America
- Cari Baylor, president, Baylor Trucking, Milan, IN
- Rebecca Brewster, president & COO, American Transportation Research Institute
- Mary Jane Evans, CEO, Veritable Vegetable
- Elizabeth Fretheim, director-logistics sustainability, Walmart
- Brandie M. Fuller, vice president-marketing, Great Dane Trailers
- Barbara Gould, director of communications, Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems
- Stephanie Klang, long-haul truck driver, XPO Truckload
- Judy M. McReynolds, president & CEO, ArcBest
- Karen Rasmussen, president & CEO, HELP, Inc.
- Annette Sandberg, principal, TransSafe Consulting
- Ellen Voie, president & CEO, Women in Trucking Assn.
