Episode 15 - Women in Trucking w/ Ellen Voie and Hot Shot Driver Kimberly Lucas

This episode features a few females making their way in freight!

The first conversation is between Michael and Ellen Voie, founder of Women in Trucking, a non-profit organization focused on the transportation and logistics industry.

The second is between Christian Patterson, curator of our Transmitter Newsletter and Kimberly Lucas, owner of Keep It Moving Services, a hot shot trucking company. 

You'll learn about the work Women in Trucking does to support our industry and a new business owner who's optimistic about the future of her growing family business. 

Never miss an episode by subscribing to the Trucking for Millennials podcast on these platforms:

Kimberly Lucas:
If the guys can do it, the women can do it. And it's nonstop. I'm just keep going up and up.

Michael Clements:
Welcome to Trucking for Millennials where we engage with the future of freight happening now. My name is Michael Clements.

Aaron Dunn:
And I'm Aaron Dunn and we're here to help trucking and logistics professionals stay up to date and ahead of the curve as our industry evolves.

Michael Clements:
We're connecting with every step of the supply chain as part of our mission to increase transparency and provide world-class freight solutions.

Christian Patterson:
Hey, this is Christian Patterson, part of the marketing team here at PDQ America, and this is a special episode of Trucking for Millennials. Today you will hear from two women in our industry, a conversation Michael had with Ellen Voie, founder of Women In Trucking, a nonprofit organization focused on the transportation and logistics industry. And Kimberly Lucas and experienced hot shot driver who recently started her own business. We chat about what it's like to be a woman in a male dominated industry and her career as a professional driver. I hope you enjoy this episode. Leave a review. Don't forget to subscribe. And if you're a woman in trucking, connect with us on social media at PQ America.

Michael Clements:
All right. Well, hello, Miss Ellen.

Ellen Voie:
Well, how are you doing?

Michael Clements:
I'm doing wonderful. How are you doing today?

Ellen Voie:
It's great.

Michael Clements:
Are y'all enjoying the show?

Ellen Voie:
Yes, yes. I think I got 10,000 steps in already.

Michael Clements:
Really?

Ellen Voie:
Yeah.

Michael Clements:
This is a big place.

Ellen Voie:
It's a good size show.

Michael Clements:
Okay, so I guess who are you with, Miss Ellen?

Ellen Voie:
So my name's Ellen Voie, I'm the president and CEO of the Women In Trucking Association. So we're a nonprofit organization and our mission is to increase the numbers of women working in the industry and whether that means the women who designed the trucks, build the trucks, sell the trucks, fix the trucks, drive the trucks, own the trucks. We represent all women in the industry, but almost 20% of our members are men because they believe in our mission. So I like to tell people we're not necessarily for women, we're about women.

Michael Clements:
Okay. All right. So for women and about women.

Ellen Voie:
Correct.

Michael Clements:
Okay. So I guess give us a little background on your organization and how you got started. What was your motivation there?

Ellen Voie:
So about 12 years ago, it was March of 2007 when Women In Trucking was formed. But prior to that I was working for a large trucking company. I was the manager of Recruiting and Retention Programs. So it was corporate level initiatives and they said, "Figure out how to attract and retain nontraditional groups." And one of the groups was women. And I started doing research on what are women looking for in a carrier, in an industry. And at the time I was getting my pilot's license, so I belonged to Women in Aviation. And it occurred to me, I thought, "Well, there's a Women In Aviation, there's a Women In Construction, there's a Women In Mining. Why isn't there a Women In Trucking?"

Ellen Voie:
So I put together a board of directors, an amazing group of women. At the first board was all women. Had an attorney who helped us get legal and he's been with us ever since. Wonderful, wonderful person. And I have to tell you 12 years later, it's grown way beyond my wildest dreams. I could not have imagined where we would be at this point.

Michael Clements:
So what was your original goal for members? What did you have in mind?

Ellen Voie:
Well, my original goal was to get people to start looking at women, whether they were leaders, drivers and say, "Well how do we get more women in industry?" So 12 years ago carriers would tell me, "Oh, we don't care the gender, the age or the ethnicity of a driver. We just want a good driver. So you can talk about women all you want, but we just want a good driver."

Ellen Voie:
And then I come back to them and go, but are you attracting women? Do you understand what women look for in a carrier? Is your equipment accommodating? Is your safety environment? And I would keep on and on and on about what women bring to the industry. So now 12 years later, companies get that. They're like, "Oh wow, we see the value of women in the trucking industry. Help us get more women." So it's really turned in 12 years.

Michael Clements:
Okay. And so the organization started 12 years ago. How many members do y'all have for this?

Ellen Voie:
Wow. This week I checked and we were at about 5,210 in 10 countries.

Michael Clements:
That's so cool.

Ellen Voie:
Yeah, it's amazing. We actually, women in the United States make up just under 8% of the driving population. But if you look at the rest of the world, Australia 2%, Europe 2%, New Zealand, and they're smaller trucks and they're home all the time because it's two islands. You know what I mean? They look at us and they go, "How did you get that high?" So they'll have me come and speak and talk about some of the initiatives that we're doing to increase the percentage of women. And so we do a lot of research, or we work with a lot of research organizations. The University of Memphis does, our Women In Trucking index. We do work with the University of Wisconsin-Stout.

Ellen Voie:
We work with any organization that wants to help better understand the trucking industry. We work with them and then we use their data. So that makes us a resource for the rest of the industry. And as a resource, people will come to us and say, "Tell us about women. Tell us about your safety records. Tell us about why do women come into the industry." It's the same reason as for men it's money. Because women who drive a truck make the same amount of money as men who drive a truck because you're paid by the mile or the load or the rate. So because of the value people see that women bring into the industry, even at the leadership... Women make decisions differently than men do. Women are risk averse. Women are more collaborative, more team oriented, more engaging as bosses because that's the way we're made. So now 12 years later, they're saying, "We see the value that women bring to the industry. Help us bring more women in."

Michael Clements:
I guess your target demographic is going to be women probably of all ages. So what are some of the hot topics for your organization right now, and what are women and what are some of the obstacles women are facing in trucking?

Ellen Voie:
So women face the same obstacles as men, but they're prioritized differently. And a top concern for women is safety. We did a best practices study. We found on a scale of one to 10 that women ranked their safety at an average of 4.4. We think that's unacceptable. You should feel safe when you're doing your job, whether you're driving a truck, whatever. So we're working on that. A couple of things that we're doing is Kansas Senator Moran, their office is introducing legislation to promote a Women In Trucking advisory committee at the FMCSA, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration level. We also are in the middle of a three year study on crimes against female and minority drivers. So we can actually understand the extent of crimes that are occurring and where and how, so we can eliminate them. We work with a truck cab manufacturers on truck cab design and ergonomics and have encouraged them to put security alarm systems in their trucks. So that if you have a alarm system in your home, if somebody tries to break in the alarm goes off, and so we feel that drivers should have that same protection.

Ellen Voie:
We also work with the Truck stops on safety, security and amenities, lighting and things like that. And then we have The Survive Institute come in and do a self-defense courses at our events, at our salute, at our conference, things like that. So we want to help women be safer on the road anywhere. Other challenges? I know that you're all about millennials and this industry is an aging population. The average female driver comes in, she's 50 years old, she's raised her children. 83% of women who come to the industry came in because of a male, a family member, a friend who said, go get your license. So we realize that we need to be proactive in reaching the next generation. This may not necessarily apply to millennials, but we created a Girl Scout transportation patch. We found the Boy Scouts had one and Girl Scouts didn't.

Ellen Voie:
So we worked with the greater Chicago and Northern Indiana Girl Scout region and created the curriculum, created the patch. We also came out with a truck driver doll, so that kids can play with a doll, boys and girls and say, "Maybe I can do that." And we try to get to do Girl Scout events. We have an activity book that's called supply chain. It tells kids about how the grain goes from the field to the bakery in a truck. Bakery to packaging in a truck. Packaging to warehousing. So we're trying to reach the next generation to say trucking is a wonderful industry and you can be part of this.

Christian Patterson:
So Kimberly, thank you for being here with us today on this special episode. So how long have you been in the trucking industry?

Kimberly Lucas:
Oh, since '09.

Christian Patterson:
So that's when you got your CDL?

Kimberly Lucas:
Yeah.

Christian Patterson:
And you were driving for somebody else.

Kimberly Lucas:
Yes.

Christian Patterson:
And what drew you to the trucking industry?

Kimberly Lucas:
Just I've always wanted to do something different and just the money is... There's real good money in it.

Christian Patterson:
Okay, gotcha. And how did you... So what kind of trucking are you in?

Kimberly Lucas:
Hot shot.

Christian Patterson:
Hot shot okay. So not only are you a woman in the trucking industry, but you have your own hot shot business. For someone who might be wanting to be their own boss and start their own hot shop business, what advice do you have?

Kimberly Lucas:
My advice to other women. Hey, if you feel like you can do it, do it. It's simple. Other people hire lawyers and stuff to do it. But I did everything from the insurance to the LLC of my company. Just do it.

Christian Patterson:
So obviously there's a lot involved to starting a business.

Kimberly Lucas:
It's a lot involved.

Christian Patterson:
How long did it take you to get this business started?

Kimberly Lucas:
About a month.

Christian Patterson:
Really. And how long have you been in business for yourself?

Kimberly Lucas:
Two months. Going on three.

Christian Patterson:
Two months. Wow. So this is very recent?

Kimberly Lucas:
Yes.

Christian Patterson:
Okay. Gotcha. So what are you doing to get your business out there right now.

Kimberly Lucas:
Networking. I'm out giving out my business cards, calling businesses.

Christian Patterson:
So networking is key.

Kimberly Lucas:
Network. Yes.

Christian Patterson:
So what is the most rewarding thing about the trucking industry for you?

Kimberly Lucas:
Basically, it's your own time. You're on your own time.

Christian Patterson:
Well, what is the hardest part about being a female in the trucking industry?

Kimberly Lucas:
You pull up in a Dually like I just did, and they was like, "That's too much of a truck for you lady." I'll be like, "No, it's not." They stare, they stare and be like, "Oh, you driving something big."

Christian Patterson:
Really, so how do you react when you get those kind of reactions?

Kimberly Lucas:
I was at the store the other day and I pulled up in my Dually. The guy was like, "I really like your truck." I say, "I really like it too."

Christian Patterson:
Well there you go. Okay. So recently two US Senators introduced the Promoting Women In Trucking Workforce act, which directs the FMCSA administrator to create a Women Of Trucking advisory board. This board would be tasked with identifying ways trucking companies, trucking associations, and other groups can support women pursuing trekking careers. As well as finding opportunities to enhance training, education, and outreach programs exclusive to women. So with that being said, what does the trucking industry need to do to entice more women to this industry?

Kimberly Lucas:
I feel like just because we're women, we don't need to be treated different. So I feel like we can do whatever a man can do. So just treat us equally.

Christian Patterson:
Do you think... So in hot shot trucking, do you face any more physical challenges as far as like loading or... I mean I'm thinking about strapping down loads like this.

Kimberly Lucas:
It's not hard. You just roll it and throw it.

Christian Patterson:
Yeah.

Kimberly Lucas:
Roll it and throw it.

Christian Patterson:
Okay. Gotcha. So would you encourage women to become truck drivers?

Kimberly Lucas:
Yeah. Right now I have four daughters. They're all grown and I'm trying to get them into, "Hey go get your CDL so we could make this a family owned business."

Christian Patterson:
Wow, that would be awesome. Okay. So, according to a Wall Street Journal article, women are drawn to truck driver jobs because of equal pay. The article said that typically truck drivers are paid by the mile regardless of gender. So you found this to be true?

Kimberly Lucas:
Yes ma'am.

Christian Patterson:
That it's equal pay.

Kimberly Lucas:
It's equal pay, yes.

Christian Patterson:
And the pay is enticing to you?

Kimberly Lucas:
Yes ma'am. Most definitely.

Christian Patterson:
Okay, so let's talk detention time. So a recent ATRI survey found that female drivers were 83.3% more likely than men to be delayed six or more hours. Have you ever experienced that?

Kimberly Lucas:
No ma'am. And I plan on not experiencing it. I plan on being there on time and everything. Because if you don't satisfy the customer then you won't make any money.

Christian Patterson:
Okay, gotcha. So speaking of issues in the industry, the top issues facing the industry right now are, number one the driver shortage. Number two, hours of service. And number three driver retention. Do you feel like those top three issues truly represent your most pressing concerns?

Kimberly Lucas:
No ma'am. Not really. I'm on a couple of load boards and this is my issue. The reason why my truck doesn't move that much. You have your brokers and your dispatchers. Your brokers that put the loads on the load board from the direct shippers is getting more money than we're getting to move the load. So that's the biggest issue right now. Is that whoever gets you to load or whatever, they want to take basically 50% of what you is offered and that's not fair.

Christian Patterson:
Okay. Got you. So to you that's the biggest issue in the industry. Okay. Then what do you think is your secret for success as a female in trucking? If you could give advice to your daughters, if they were wanting to get into this industry.

Kimberly Lucas:
Actually they in the steps of a going to get, they have this CDL program that pays half of your CDL training and so this coming Wednesday, they will be going to their class and listen to things and get it on. I self motivate myself and just... Hey, if the guys can do it, the women can do it and it's nonstop. I'm just keep going up and up.

Christian Patterson:
There you go.

Katie:
Hello, this is Katie from PDQ America. I wanted to invite you to join our newsletter, The Transcript. If you'd like to receive the latest trucking and news industry insight and other valuable information every week, visit go.pdqamerica.com/podcast.