D.W. Congratulates All the Women in the Driver’s Seat

There’s still an underlying sense that trucking is a man’s job. But as can be seen on any given day upon our nation’s interstates, that is becoming less and less the case. At this year’s annual Mid-America Trucking Show on March 24th in Louisville, KY, the Women in Trucking Association (WTA) plans on celebrating this fact. For the third year in a row, the WTA will honor the women that drive America’s rigs and trucks in its “Salute to the Women behind the Wheel” ceremony.

Last year’s “Salute” brought 204 female rig drivers together to hear National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman praise the skill, safety record, and tireless stamina of women truckers. In fact, Ms. Hersman made the journey to Louisville from her office in Washington, D.C. by being driven by five different women truckers. It seems to have made quite an impression on her. In her speech at last year’s show, Ms. Hersman stated, “I gained a lot more respect for these professional drivers behind the wheel and I want them to know that I will keep an eye out for them whenever I’m on the interstate.”

This year’s festival, sponsored by such household names as Walmart, Freightliner, and Frito-Lay, is expected to attract more of an audience than ever before. At last year’s festival, two women truckers, Heather Hogeland and Alice Adams, were recognized for having done over 4 million miles of safe driving each. That’s an incredible statistic by anyone’s gold standard. Here’s believing, and knowing, that there are many more truckers out there just like Heather and Alice. We hope they claim all the recognition they deserve.