Women In Trucking, a nonprofit organization created to encourage the employment of women and assist in promoting a more female-friendly environment for those already in the trucking industry, celebrates its one-year anniversary today, March 12, and has hit 1,000 corporate and individual members.
“Our rapid growth confirms what we’ve known all along, that an association like this was long overdue,” says Ellen Voie, WIT chairwoman. “With a very active board combined with enthusiastic members, we firmly believe we can make a difference in the trucking industry. One of our goals when we started WIT a year ago was to have 1,000 members before the end of our first year. We’ve met that goal, and now we hope to double again within the next six months.”
WIT officially was founded on March 12, 2007, as a means to encourage women to consider a career in the trucking industry, and also to provide a platform to voice the successes and struggles of those women already in the male-dominated field.
Membership in WIT comes in a variety of forms ranging from corporate to driver and student members. To date, the organization’s 1,000 members include people at 80 corporations and 11 trucking schools, as well as 203 drivers, 133 nondriving individuals and 56 students. Nearly 20 percent of the members are men.
“Although encouraging women to consider careers in the trucking industry is one role of WIT, it’s not our only focus,” Voie says. “We believe that providing a greater understanding of the special challenges that women face on the road, under the hood or behind the desk will only serve to better the industry.”
