Twenty-nine years ago, Juan Pablo Muñoz invited his siblings to start a trucking company with him in honor of their late father, Angel Muñoz. It was Angel’s dream to own a trucking company, and his children accomplished this with the El Paso-based Muñoz Trucking. “Angel’s Dream” is displayed on the top panel of all the fleet’s trucks.
Family-focused
Today, the next generation is furthering the Muñoz legacy, chiefly Juan’s daughter, Soledad Muñoz. But according to the fleet’s current VP of operations, she didn’t always want to join the family business.
“I have a couple of teenagers now, and they're like, ‘Oh my gosh, transportation sounds so boring,’ and I tell them there was a time when I felt like that, too,” Muñoz told FleetOwner. “But once you're in transportation and trucking day to day, no days are the same. There's so many moving parts at all times; there's a lot of things that can change every day. So, it's not something that I would ever say is boring. It's actually pretty exciting.”
Muñoz obtained a bachelor’s degree in fashion merchandising with the intention of one day opening her own clothing store. She worked part-time at Muñoz Trucking starting in 2010, doing payroll and other tasks in addition to raising her young children. Five years ago, her dreams changed, and she joined Muñoz Trucking full-time. First, she learned different aspects of the business, which included dispatch and safety, before landing in operations. She told FleetOwner that working with family can have its ups and downs, especially when trying to separate family and work, but it’s ultimately been a blessing for her.
“They understand if one of my kiddos is sick, and I have to run out of here,” Muñoz said. “I think that's a benefit of working with family. They're not going to say, ‘No, don't go pick up my grandson.’”
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According to Muñoz, it’s been a joy for her to help take the family business from a “mom-and-pop shop” to a larger, corporate establishment with more structure. But bigger businesses come with bigger challenges.
Supporting other women
Muñoz knows that working in a male-dominated industry like trucking can be daunting for women, but she’s at a point in her career in which she’s grown past being intimidated.
“Going out there to these big conventions, when you look around, it's a lot of men, but I was raised to be strong by my father,” Muñoz said. “Growing up in the Mexican community and Latino community here in El Paso and going out to where you're the minority, in a lot of different ways, I think I've been able to grow with it. I think everybody has been pretty open and receiving.”
Muñoz takes pride in helping Muñoz Trucking continue to be a positive environment for families. For women especially, she knows that concerns and responsibilities with children can sometimes cause employees to have to choose between their work and their children, and Muñoz wants to make things as easy as possible for the parents at Muñoz Trucking.
“Here in the office and in the shop, we hire women, and we make it pretty available,” Muñoz said. “I'm a mother, so if kiddos are sick, they bring them in if they have work to do, or they take their job home. We're pretty open to family. We're what you would call a family-friendly environment. We like to do a lot of events as well for drivers to include their families, bring their kiddos, and get an idea of where they work.”
See also: Muñoz Trucking partners with Optimal Dynamics to drive efficiency and profitability
Fostering a positive environment, especially for women, is something that Muñoz doesn't just talk about; it's how she conducts business. Muñoz told FleetOwner that Muñoz Trucking currently has 12 female drivers, some of who work as a team with their spouses. She checks in with these women drivers frequently to assess their needs and any challenges they might be experiencing. But ultimately, Muñoz said these women drivers are confident and love their roles.
Having grown up in the industry, Muñoz has some advice to offer to women who are just starting out in trucking or who are considering joining the industry.
“For women trying to enter into transportation, whether they're drivers or they're going into corporate, learn and talk to everybody,” Muñoz emphasized. “You want to learn what a driver does? Get on the road with them. You want to learn what management does, what dispatch is doing—because they all blend together—and you need to understand all the different facets in order to really understand the industry. We all impact each other no matter what we do.”
