“Transportation and the industry for me is a legacy,” Christine Estes said. “It started in the passenger’s seat of my dad’s truck growing up and seeing the interactions that he had with his direct support staff, the organizations he worked with, the maintenance team, the customers, the motoring public, and just the impact that drivers had on their communities and the nation—I was 10 years old, and I could see that then.”
See also: Women in Transportation 2024
Estes is the director of safety and recruiting for Usher Transport, a Louisville-based liquid bulk transport company. While she’s always loved the transportation industry, she said her teenage self never thought she’d work in it. It was after getting older and having conversations with her dad about the various job opportunities in the industry that pushed her to try it out.
For Estes, the sky's the limit
She started doing social media for Usher Transport, but it took less than one month for Usher to see her value and offer her a recruiting role. The motto Estes shares, “I’m happy to help,” may have shown others her drive, but it was her late father who showed her that with a job in transportation, she could do and be almost anything. “He was always my biggest support,” Estes told FleetOwner.
“The sky’s the limit—just do what you want to do,” he would tell Estes.
Being “happy to help” propelled Estes up the ladder at Usher Transport, from social media posting to leading her own team and being responsible for the safety and well-being of 250 truck drivers who operate locally and across the U.S. and Canada.
Between Estes’ recruiter promotion and director-level position, she honed her craft, learning more about regulations and taking certification classes. She received OSHA HAZWOPER certification, OSHA 40 certification, IRMI TRIP certification, and became a NATMI-certified director of safety. To top it all off, when Estes became the safety and recruiting director at Usher Transport, she was the first female to ever fill that position.
For those who are not familiar with the recruiting process, the connection to safety might not be immediately obvious. However, Estes explained to FleetOwner that safety and recruiting are deeply intertwined.
"When you think about it, they’re really very interconnected," Estes explained. "The first line of defense in a risk management approach for any organization is bringing in quality individuals, and that starts with recruiting. This naturally extends into the roles of safety directors who should work closely with their recruiting teams."
Pushing through the negative
Estes’ rise to director at Usher Transport didn’t make everyone happy—though she didn’t know it. A year into her safety director role, a driver called Estes “out of the blue” to apologize.
“I was taken aback,” Estes said. “He’s like, ‘I was your biggest critic whenever you were put in that role,’ and he said—and I quote—‘I can admit I was chauvinistic because I felt like a woman could not work within that role.’”
This man made sure his “voice was heard” about his disagreement with Estes’ new role, according to Estes, although she had been completely unaware of his feelings during all of their interactions. He said, “’I’ve told people I was wrong, and my perception was wrong,’” Estes explained.
What changed his mind about Estes’ abilities was that she was willing to learn more about the complicated and ever-evolving trucking industry.
“He said that for him, just [my] willingness to grow and learn really showed him that women are meant to be within any role of the transportation industry because they have a lot of great qualities,” Estes said.
Although this encounter was shocking, Estes didn’t let it affect her. She tends to overlook the negative. “I’m just going to keep pushing through,” she said. “Perseverance, resilience, and leading by example are probably some of the strategies that I use. ... Having confidence in my abilities and understanding that it's OK to say I might not know something—that could be something someone could look down upon me for—shows that I'm willing to learn and grow.”
For Estes, growth happens through having meaningful conversations with others in the industry and working through problems together.
“It's OK to say, ‘I don't know this, let me put a bookend here, and let me go figure it out.’ And then take that information and give it to drivers or give it to my team or the organization because that fosters diversity and fosters inclusion. It says that there’s always room for personal growth within the whole industry.”
See also: How trust, communications, and people create fleet safety foundations
Having women in transportation is a necessity
While some might still see women in transportation as a novelty, Estes believes having women in the industry is a necessity.
“A diverse representation in leadership and across the industry is a benefit to the organization and the industry as a whole,” she said. “We all become better together by having good, meaningful conversations and overcoming preconceived notions in the industry.”
