The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has completed its search for women to represent the commercial vehicle industry, appointing 16 women to the Women of Trucking Advisory Board. The board’s goal is to recruit, retain, ensure the safety of, and overall support women in the commercial vehicle (CV) industry, according to an FMCSA press release.
The 16 founding members of the Women in Trucking Advisory Board (WOTAB) includes five current CV drivers and four former CV drivers, trainers, recruiters, executives, and authors. The members come from 11 states and work for small, medium, and large trucking companies and as independent owner-operators, and at nonprofit organizations, business associations, and institutions of higher education.
See also: Women in Transportation 2022: Trailblazers in trucking
The signing of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act last fall created WOTAB, which was chartered on Feb. 11 by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. The board is tasked with identifying industry trends that directly or indirectly discourage women from trucking careers, how trucking companies and organizations can facilitate support for women in trucking, how to expand existing opportunities for women in the trucking industry, and how to enhance trucking training, mentorship, education, and outreach programs that are exclusive to women.
Members of the Women of Trucking Advisory Board (WOTAB)
Anne Balay, organizer with the Service Employees International Union (school/higher education)
Jerri Banks, owner of Life on the Road (LOTR) Recruiting and Transportation Services (driver recruitment)
Elisabeth Barna, executive VP, American Trucking Associations (trucking association)
Joyce Brenny, Brenny Transportation Inc. and Brenny Specialized Inc. founder and president and an independent owner-operator
Enjoli DeGrasse, International Brotherhood of Teamsters deputy director (labor)
Marie Druckenmiller, Amazon director of transportation (large carrier)
Erin Ducharme, CFO, H&L Bloom/Bloom’s Bus Lines (motorcoach)
Laura Duryea, Boyle Transportation, manager of recruiting, retention, and driver development (medium carrier)
Marquita Jones, J.B. Hunt, professional intermodal driver
Kellylynn McLaughlin, Prime Transport LTD., professional driver
Dianne McNair-Smith, 3 Girls Trucking Academy CEO (school/higher education)
Sharae Moore, Founder/President, SHE Trucking Foundation (trucking association)
O’Sheauna Parker, professional driver
Emily Plummer, Prime Inc., professional driver
Soledad Munoz Smith, VP of operations, Munoz Trucking (small carrier)
Nicole Ward, co-owner, African American Women in Trucking Association (nonprofit)
For more details on the members of the Women of Trucking Advisory Board, read more from FMCSA here.
"America needs truck drivers like never before, yet women—half the American people—have long been underestimated and underrepresented behind the wheel and in jobs across this sector," Buttigieg said. "Getting to know women in trucking, I have heard about their passion for the job as well as the challenges they face, and this experienced Women in Trucking Advisory Board will help us address these issues directly. We thank the members for serving and look forward to working together to bring more women into trucking and to enhance job quality in this important career.”
FMCSA Deputy Administrator Robin Hutcheson added, “Women are significantly underrepresented in the trucking industry, holding only 24% of all transportation jobs. 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.”
