Women in Motion is an ATA initiative that recruits drivers and promotes safer parking.
April Coolidge, a real estate broker, was hit hard by the Great Recession. She shifted gears and, like her father, enrolled in truck driving school.
The second-generation driver works for Walmart Transportation and is an America's Road Team Captain for the American Trucking Associations (ATA).
I never imagined myself working in this field. I would not have driven like my father as a woman. But it's been the most rewarding path, and I just absolutely love what I do," Coolidge said during a recent ATA webinar on the organization's newest initiative. "It's the best decision I've ever made, and it allows me to live my life while earning a good living."
Coolidge uses her story to promote women in trucking as a member of the ATA's Women in Motion (WIM) speaker bureau.
ATA launched WIM in July to assist women in the industry, not just drivers, in overcoming barriers. WIM works with coalition partners, policymakers, and business leaders to advocate for safer truck parking and diversity in order to make women truckers' workplaces safer. The initiative promotes trucking careers to women across the country and offers women in the industry career support and development.
WIM's speaker bureau educates and mentors industry women. Coolidge discusses trucking with high school girls.
"Not everyone is cut out for college, so when I go to these high schools and talk to these young people about the trucking industry, I let them know how much money I make, the benefits, retirement, everything," she explained. "They reconsider, 'Perhaps I should go into trucking.'" I had no female role models growing up, so if a woman had visited my high school when I was younger, I might have entered this industry sooner.
Coolidge wants to inform young women about the many opportunities in trucking because there are so many misconceptions about what it means to be a woman truck driver.
Coolidge's story, according to ATA President and CEO Chris Spear, is important for recruiting women and lobbying Congress.
WIM promotes all trucking careers, but it is especially focused on female truck drivers. Due to the national driver shortage, ATA and other organizations are focusing on a large segment of the population that has previously gone unnoticed in the male-dominated industry.
"We've created an initiative that shines a bright light on this critical talent pool of women in our industry, and it spans every trucking occupation," ATA President and CEO Chris Spear said. "It's a permanent addition to ATA, will be staffed permanently with full-time talent, and I'm very excited to bring the ATA's ability to advocate issues identified as critical to growing our workforce by Women in Motion."
WIM is emphasizing truck parking.
Women have traditionally avoided truck driving due to safety and security concerns. The Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act, which is supported by the ATA and other organizations, would allocate $755 million to truck parking capacity projects over four years.
As an owner operator, Rhonda Hartman, an America's Road Team Captain and professional driver for Old Dominion Freight Line, said she always parked in better lighting. Hartman, who now does pick-up and delivery and is home every night, believes that many rest stops could benefit from more lighting. Truck stops have improved truck parking by installing lighting, parking reservations, security patrols, and shuttles between the lot and the building.
Coolidge, on the other hand, advised women who wanted to drive to plan ahead of time.
I've driven away from truck stops and rest stops at all hours of the night. "I've never felt threatened," Coolidge said, "but I plan my day accordingly." "Because we only have so many hours in the day to drive... many times when I shut down the night before... I'll plan my next day because I know how far I can travel and where I'll have to stop. That allows me to choose where to stay and make decisions that will make me feel the most secure on the road.
"Collaboration between state and private organizations would be an awesome idea to tie those two things together and make people feel safer about parking," said Hartman, who has driven a semi for nearly 40 years and has over 3 million safe driving miles.
WIM, according to Spear, wants to collaborate with other organizations with similar goals in order to make a bigger impact, particularly in lawmaking, by listening to professionals like Hartman and Coolidge.
Listening to female drivers, I believe, helps us understand those barriers. "ATA is leading this solution, and I'm very proud that we've been able to match that listening ability with our advocacy capability," Spear said. "What distinguishes Women in Motion is its ability to take the issues it identifies and bring the ATA's advocacy ability to bear, shaping those into strategies and, hopefully, outcomes." Parking will be one of many examples as this program begins.
