The number of women finding professional careers as truck drivers continues to grow. Whether it’s driving Intermodal, Dedicated or Truckload, women from across the country are finding their niche and making an impact behind the wheel.
We talked with Jodi, Debra and Monica, a few of the incredible women in our driving fleets, to learn more about why they wanted to become truck drivers and their experience driving with J.B. Hunt. Keep reading to hear their stories!
Is Truck Driving a Good Career for a Woman?
With 23 years behind the wheel, local intermodal driver Jodi believes truck driving can be a fulfilling career for women and is more of a normal job than most might realize.
“I was able to be at home with my family at night and go to all the baseball games and all those things that were involved with parenting,” she explained. “And I think that now, more women are finding out that they can have a normal life and have this job.”
After years of being the only woman at her account, Jodi says it is encouraging to see so many more women choose truck driving for their careers.
“I know that right at my terminal it used to be just me for the very longest of times … there’s eight of us now,” she said. “For me, that’s huge. I think it’s amazing the progress we’ve made as far as bringing women into the jobs. I mean we even had a young lady … on maternity leave just like you would have at any other job. To have that normalcy in trucking is unusual.”
For Jodi, seeing the wide range of local jobs at J.B. Hunt makes her excited to see more growth as more women continue to join the driving force.
“[J.B. Hunt has] local all over the place, from Dedicated accounts to intermodal to Final Mile [Services]. It’s just huge compared to other companies that just have over the road or they just have regional,” Jodi explained. “I love my job. I love what I do. I love the fact that we are kind of blending in now with more women getting involved.”
How Does J.B. Hunt Support Women Truck Drivers?
Debra has been part of the J.B. Hunt family for 27 years. Throughout that time, she has driven over two million accident-free miles, which she says is a testament to the support she has received from the company from day one.
“They have been there for me, I mean through it all, thick and thin. And they are so understanding, and they care,” said Debra. “You know, people can say ‘I care’ or ‘I’m concerned’ but you have to show people, because those are just words until you put it into action. J.B. Hunt, hands down … they show it, they don’t just say it … the love of the company is off the chart.”
The support that J.B. Hunt has for our drivers was built into the company by our founders, Mr. and Mrs. Hunt.
“I’m grateful that I had the pleasure to meet Mrs. Hunt and Mr. Hunt,” she said. “He didn’t look at my gender or color or what walk of life I came from. He was totally concerned about how I was doing, you know? Is everything OK, how am I doing, how am I being treated? He loved his drivers.”
Why Should Women Drive with J.B. Hunt?
Monica, a local driver, has been with J.B. Hunt for 28 years and just celebrated two million miles of safe driving. Monica wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps and become a truck driver herself, and she encourages more women to explore driving jobs with J.B. Hunt because it’s “the best job for you.”
“For women that are thinking about becoming a truck driver, just do it. Stop thinking about it so hard. It’s a nice career, it’s exciting. You get to go places and get paid to do it,” said Monica “I’m definitely glad a lot of women are just having faith in themselves and coming out and doing it … Just trust yourself and believe. As long as you believe you can do it, you can achieve whatever you want.”
Seeing more women join the transportation industry has Monica excited for the future as the next generation begins to take their place in the driver’s seat.
“Hopefully when I get retired, there will be some more, the next generation, ready to step into the truck and carry on for years to come,” she said.
Ready to find the best truck driving job for you? Call us at 1-877-791-9458 or fill out our short form to start your journey today.
I would like to be a truck driver and happy to see different woman driving a truck .