When we see a woman getting out of the driver’s side of a tractor-trailer, it still turns our heads because it’s a rare sight. For every twenty professional drivers on the road, only one is a woman.
For a glimpse of hundreds of female drivers, all dressed in red shirts, then join us at the Women In Trucking (WIT) annual “Salute to Women Behind the Wheel.” The female drivers are being honored for their role as pioneers in the trucking industry. For the sixth year, the organization will be recognizing these women on Saturday, March 28, at the Mid-America Trucking Show at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville.
The celebration begins at 11:00 am on the second floor of the south wing (rooms C201-204) with exhibitors, music, goodie bags for the drivers, and the WIT signature chocolate fountains. This year attendees will enjoy a huge semi-tractor cake after the ceremony.
Marcia Taylor, President and CEO of Bennett International Group and winner of the 2014 “Influential Woman in Trucking” award sponsored by Navistar, will address the group and thank them for their service. Taylor started the carrier with her late husband, J. D. Garrison, in 1974 with fifteen trucks and 30 trailers and has grown the company to its current fleet of 2,500 trucks. Recently Bennett International Group launched its “Women in the Driver’s Seat” initiative to encourage and support the women employed by the company.
The attendees will pose for the annual group photo before numerous door prizes are then given to the female commercial drivers. This year’s top prize will be a $1,000 Walmart gift card, followed by ten Apple iPads, and $100 gift cards for Alliance Truck Parks and a TA Dining Card.
In 2004, there was a women only truck convoy in Dronton, Netherlands that attracted 416 female professional drivers. The Women In Trucking Association would like to shatter this record at the 2015 Salute to Women Behind the Wheel, and will be awarding a plaque to the carrier with the most drivers in attendance.
Be sure to mark your calendar for this year’s Salute to Women Behind the Wheel. All female commercial drivers are welcome to participate and need not be members of the organization. Family and friends, sponsors, and WIT members are encouraged to attend to help honor these women for their service to the trucking industry.
