Women in Trucking

69 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 12 the myths about trucking, or what careers are available in the industry. At the front of the trailer is a simulator where visitors can sit in a virtual driver’s seat and see what it’s like to operate an 80,000 vehicle in actual traffic conditions. In an effort to reach the next generation, the Women In Trucking Association created a truck driver doll named Clare. The doll has her own Facebook group and a following of drivers who take her around the world on their travels. Clare has been photographed checking tire pressure, visiting shippers, and stopping at a truck stop. WIT learned that the Boy Scouts had a transportation patch, but the Girl Scouts did not. To address this issue WIT worked with the greater Chicago and Northern Indiana Girl Scout region to create a supply chain patch called “Trucks are for Girls.” The association’s first event included 84 young girls who visited the Olive Harvey driver academy in Chicago toured the tractor trailers, spoke with the drivers, and had fun learning about trucking careers. The WIT activity book is called, “Scouting for Cookies,” and follows the supply chain as the grain from the field is loaded on a truck and shipped to the bakery, and then moved to the packaging on a truck, and again to the warehouse and on to the Girl Scout who delivers the cookies. To date, over 1,200 Girl Scouts have earned the patch and learned about trucking in the process. Ultimately, the WIT strongly believes that it can change the industry by increasing the ranks of women as drivers, dispatchers, safety directors, and CEOs and this remains the mission of the Women In Trucking Association. For more information visit www.womenintrucking.org