Women In Motion Interviews

Women Take Center Stage at National Truck Driving Championships

As the trucking industry continues to shed past stereotypes about who can be a truck driver, nowhere was that fact more evident than at the National Truck Driving Championships in Indianapolis, August 16-19. A record 11 women drivers competed at NTDC after besting the competition in their class at the state level: 

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Robin at NTDC

FMCSA Acting Administrator Robin Hutcheson speaking with Haleigh Fickett, R.H. Foster Energy, who competed in the Tank Truck Division

  • Karen Roderick, FedEx Ground, CT – Straight Truck 
  • Rebecca Nelson, FedEx Express, FL – Straight Truck 
  • Theresa Spencer, A&A Express, Inc., South Dakota, Straight Truck 
  • Karen Tierney, FedEx Express, Mass, 3-Axle 
  • Dawn Cochran, ODFL, Indiana, 5-axle 
  • Ina Daly, XPO Logistics, Arizona Tank Truck 
  • Haleigh Fickett, R.H. Foster Energy, Maine – Tank Truck 
  • Joyce Bain, FedEx Ground, Maryland – Sleeper Berth 
  • Michelle Poirier, FedEx Express, Florida – Step Van 
  • Jennifer Vonbonn, FedEx Express, Nebraska – Step Van 
  • Julie Williams, FedEx Ground, Virginia – Step Van 

And among the 408 competitors who made it to Nationals in Indy, Ina Daly of XPO Logistics was one of only 45 drivers to advance to finals after she placed in the top five of the Tank Truck Division. Ina sat down with Jimmy Mac of Sirius XM's Road Dog Trucking and the PodWheels Network to discuss her multi-decade experience competing at NTDC:

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Daly at NTDC

Ina Daly, XPO Logistics, on stage with her family during the awards ceremony 

There are many more great conversations featuring Women in Motion that took place at NTDC, courtesy our friends at Road Dog Trucking and PodWheels

NTDC Voice Tina Peterson Always Drawn To Trucking Industry 
America’s Road Team Captain Tina Peterson is enjoying the honor of serving as a course announcer at NTDC 2022. In this chat with Jimmy Mac, Tina shares how she discovered the trucking industry at the age of seven while growing up in Wyoming. As a Road Team Captain these days, Tina understands the importance of being an inspiration to young girls and teens as part of the Share the Road program. She is also the owner of a seven-truck fleet that is based in St. Paul, Minnesota. 

Tina Peterson

April Coolidge & How NTDC Helps To Grow The Industry 
In her visit with Jimmy Mac, America’s Road Team Captain April Coolidge talks about the career path that brought her to trucking. April is a North Carolina-based professional driver for Walmart who is volunteering at NTDC. Prior to trucking, April was a real estate broker and when the market collapsed she followed her father’s footsteps and became a professional truck driver. She continues to do real estate in her free time. April loves visiting schools as a Road Team Captain to talk about being a truck driver, and she discusses the power of those visits as well as the impact of events like NTDC 2022. 

April Coolidge

Road Team’s Rhonda Hartman On Her First Visit To NTDC 
In this podcast, Jimmy Mac spends some time chatting with Rhonda Hartman. She is a 40-year veteran of the trucking industry, and she is also a Captain on America’s Road Team. Rhonda is an Iowa-based professional driver for Old Dominion Freight Line and she is part of ATA’s volunteer group at NTDC 2022. As you’ll hear, Rhonda is a trainer for Old Dominion who has developed ways to communicate and teach people from different countries about driving a truck. Rhonda is also a part of the new Women-in-Motion program from ATA. 

Rhonda Hartman

Past NTDC Chairman Patti Gillette On The Road To The NTDC 
Patti Gillette is a veteran of the NTDC and she talks to Jimmy Mac about the road all the competitors take to be a part of the national championships. Patti is a past NTDC Chairman, and is currently NTDC Vice Chairman and Vice President and COO of the Colorado Motor Carriers Association. Patti has been on the NTDC Committee for numerous years and her late husband Sam Gillette was a volunteer. As you’ll hear, the road to become a state champion and qualify for the NTDC event are not all the same. 

Patti Gillette

Meet Gina Jones, America’s Road Team Captain & Woman In Motion 
Gina Jones, an America’s Road Team Captain tells Jimmy Mac, host of Dave Nemo Weekends, what it’s like becoming a track driver a little later in life and what it is like driving with her husband. Spoiler alert, giving each other space is one of the keys. Gina also tells Jimmy that driving a two-wheeled vehicle has similarities to driving one with 18 wheels. It’s also about safety and getting home at the end of each day. 

Gina Jones

 

Driving Careers: Where Need Meets Opportunity

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated a long-term, nationwide shortage of truck drivers. Today, the industry is short some 80,000 drivers needed to meet the economy’s freight needs. As global supply challenges place ever greater demand on trucking, the industry will need to hire 1.1 million new drivers over the next decade to keep pace with retirements and economic growth. 

Women making big money in the trucking industry | Morning in America

It's amidst this driver shortage that more and more women are finding lucrative career opportunities in a field where they've historically been underrepresented. And the time to get into trucking could not be better: driver pay is now rising at five times its historical average, with many fleets offering sizable, ten-figure sign-on bonuses.  

Truck driving offers a clear path to the middle class without the costly requirements and debt load that comes with a college degree. ATA's latest driver compensation study found that: 

  • Truckload drivers earned a median salary of $69,687 in 2021, plus benefits. 
  • Less-than-truckload drivers earned a median salary of $73,000 in 2021. 
  • Drivers for private fleets earned a median salary of $85,000 in 2021.  
  • Independent contractors for truckload fleets earned a median salary of $235,000 in 2021.

From CNBC: 

April Coolidge became a truck driver in her mid-40s after a long career in real estate. Eight years later, as the coronavirus shut down the economy, she is making more money than she ever did selling houses. Watch this video to learn more about why Coolidge decided to become a trucker and how the coronavirus has changed her time behind the wheel.