WIT Celebrates Ten Years
The Women In Trucking Association celebrates its 10th anniversary this month. Over the past decade, the nonprofit organization has made remarkable progress in its mission to encourage women to consider careers in the trucking industry, address obstacles that might keep them from succeeding, and celebrate the success of its members.
Founded by Ellen Voie in 2007, WIT has grown dramatically and now exceeds 4,500 members, including carriers, suppliers, industry professionals, drivers, and students. Approximately 16 percent of WIT members are men who support the goals of the program.
While women are still a minority in the transportation industry, WIT has made great strides in helping to raise awareness and increase the ranks of women through numerous initiatives.
Highlights include:
• Creating the WIT Index in partnership with the National Transportation Institute to monitor the increase in women employed in trucking.
• Benchmarking gender distribution
• Establishing the annual Accelerate! Conference and Expo to promote gender diversity and provide best practices. More than 400 men and women participated in the event last year
• Honoring women in the industry with annual awards (“Influential Woman in Trucking” and “Distinguished Woman in Logistics”) and events (“Salute to Women Behind the Wheel”)
• Creating an Image Team to showcase women in the industry. Team members have appeared on panels, attended trade shows, spoken at school functions and provided ride-alongs with the Federal Motor Carrier Administrator and Deputy Administrator, the National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman, Congressmen, journalists and a safety advocate
• Establishing the Women In Trucking Scholarship Foundation to help fund training in transportation, including safety, technical and leadership areas as well as for commercial driving opportunities. More than $20,000 in scholarships were awarded in 2016
• Creating the Girl Scout Transportation Patch in cooperation with the Greater Chicago/Northern Indiana Girl Scouts to introduce young women to careers in transportation
“We’re so grateful for the hard work and dedication of our members, board members and partners over the past 10 years,” said Ellen Voie, WIT president and CEO. “We have a long way to go, but we’ll keep working to engage more women at all levels of the transportation industry. Together, we can drive the industry forward.”
