The Biden administration published a roster of 16 women on Monday to serve on a new government advisory body targeted at increasing the number of female truck drivers.
Five current commercial truck drivers, four former drivers, trainers, and executives are among the founding members of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Women in Trucking Advisory Board (WOTAB). They operate as independent owner-operators and for small, medium, and large trucking businesses. Others represent trucking groups, labor unions, and universities.
WOTAB was established by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was signed into law last year, and is based in part on data showing that females are severely underrepresented in the trucking workforce and that female drivers are 20% less likely than men to be involved in a crash.
It is also a component of the administration’s Trucking Action Plan, which aims to improve employment quality and attract additional truck drivers.
“Women are disproportionately underrepresented in the trucking business, with only 24% of all transportation occupations held by women,” FMCSA Deputy Administrator Robin Hutcheson said. “We expect many fantastic suggestions from the advisory board that will help increase equity and enable safe access to trucking opportunities for women across the industry.”
The board’s 16 members are as follows:
- Anne Balay, organizer, Service Employees International Union (school/higher education).
- Joyce Brenny, founder, Brenny Transportation/Brenny Specialized (independent owner-operator).
- Jerri Banks, owner, Life on the Road Recruiting and Transportation Services (driver recruitment).
- Elisabeth Barna, vice president, American Trucking Associations (association).
- Enjoli DeGrasse, deputy director, International Brotherhood of Teamsters (labor).
- Marie Druckenmiller, director of transportation, Amazon (large carrier).
- Erin Ducharme, CFO, H&L Bloom/Bloom’s Bus Lines (motor coach).
- Laura Duryea, manager of recruiting, retention and driver development, Boyle Transportation, (medium carrier).
- Marquita Jones, J.B. Hunt (driver).
- Kellylynn McLaughlin, Schneider National Inc. (driver).
- Dianne McNair-Smith, CEO, 3 Girls Trucking Academy (school/higher education).
- Sharae Moore, founder/president, She Trucking Foundation (association).
- O’Sheauna Parker, Haul (driver).
- Emily Plummer, Prime Inc. (driver).
- Soledad Munoz Smith, vice president of operations, Munoz Trucking (small carrier).
- Nicole Ward, co-owner, African American Women in Trucking Association (nonprofit).
The board is obliged to make recommendations to the FMCSA administrator and the Secretary of Transportation within the next 15 months, which include:
- Evaluating the hurdles and trends affecting women in trucking, as well as methods to encourage them in pursuing jobs in the industry.
- Identifying chances to boost the number of women working in trucking.
- Advising on policies that give women in the sector with education, training, mentorship, or outreach.
- Examining opportunities to improve women’s trucking safety, training, mentorship, and education.
