As the new President and CEO of Women in Trucking Association, Jennifer Hedrick has taken on a challenging but rewarding role. She is charged with continuing to support WIT’s mission of encouraging the employment of women in the trucking industry, promoting their accomplishments, and minimizing any obstacles they may face. With her over 17 years of association leadership experience, she will be well-suited for this task.
Jennifer began her new position with Women In Trucking on January 9th and officially assumed full leadership responsibilities on March 16th. Her initial focus was getting to know members and key stakeholders better so that she could have an understanding of who WIT supports. Additionally, as soon as she started working for WIT she attended a strategy meeting in Dallas where she collaborated with WIT’s board of directors about potential future opportunities for Women In Trucking Association.
Looking at Stats to Move into the Future
Jennifer looks forward to working with industry leaders to improve the experience of women in the transport industry. Cari Baylor, president of Baylor Trucking, urged against using the term “male-dominated” when referring to trucking, pointing out that “we’re here”. Upon reflection, “dominance” is not just about numbers, but power and influence.
Companies such as Baylor, Brenny Transportation and ArcBest, with women at the helm, are not “dominated” by men even if they are a minority of the workforce. According to the WIT Index, 34% of C-suite executives in transportation companies are women, but only 15% of large, publicly traded motor carriers’ executive teams are women (compared to one in four in American corporations overall).
The WIT Index shows that only 3.7% of technicians in transportation companies are women, and 13.7% of drivers. To tackle this challenge, ATA launched Women in Motion and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Women of Trucking Advisory Board.
The board’s inaugural meeting focused on sexual harassment and assault, which many female drivers have experienced. Kellylynn McLaughlin, a professional driver with Schneider, said, “I don’t know a single female driver that has not encountered some type of harassment.” Laura Duryea of Boyle Transportation noted that “harassment has been accepted in our industry” for a long time. Elisabeth Barna of ATA believes that “starting the conversation is making a big difference.”
Sources:
https://www.truckinginfo.com/10191035/women-in-trucking-names-jennifer-hedrick-ceo
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