A growing number of women are turning to trucking industry for work

Students at Bridgerland Technical College learn how to safety inspect a semi truck and trailer on Monday Oct, 24, 2022.

LOGAN – The trucking industry has been dominated by male drivers for years, but not for long. Today, female drivers are showing up behind the wheel of semitrucks. With supply chain issues caused by the pandemic the need for truckers has increased. And gender is not so much a factor as it used to be.

Melissa Dabb is part of a growing number of women who opted to get a CDL and driving a semitruck for a living.

Melissa Dabb finished her Commercial Drivers License (CDL) from Bridgerland Technical College in June and is already driving a semitruck with a flatbed trailer going from Cache Valley to Salt Lake and into to Idaho. There is a shift not only in Utah but across the country to female drivers.

“It’s a lot different than the other jobs I’ve had,” she said. “It doesn’t take a college degree. It’s a short program and when I graduated, I could get a job making a lot more money than I ever made in the food industry.”

She works for Scott Herrick who has a two-truck operation, Herrick Services LLC. Herrick usually does the long haul out-of-state runs and Dabb drives the more local routes. One truck is a 10-speed International, the other is a 13-speed Peterbilt.

“I like driving truck because you can see the world at 65 miles an hour though the windshield,” she said. “I’ve been more place since being in the truck than I have at any other time in my life.”

Melissa Dabb stands next to her employer Scoot Herrick. She recently earned her CDL and is driving truck for a job.

Before Dabb got her CDL from B-Tech, she went on a couple of long hall drives with a friend. She went as far as Texas and Maine and got to see everywhere in between. While the traffic can be scary sometimes, she said if you’re careful it’s not too big of a problem.

You learn to be extra cautious in traffic,” she said. ”Sometimes, drivers pull out in front of you and it’s hard to stop; but somehow, I get through it.”

Dobbs is part of a growing trend of women looking at the trucking industry for employment. But not only is the industry seeking qualified drivers, there are also careers within organizations of transportation-related organizations.

Russel Liechty, a CDL instructor at B-Tech said he is seeing more and more women coming through their CDL program and some are getting both the CDL and heavy equipment combination.

The last year we have seen more and more women in our CDL classes. We have had a woman in each of our last three classes,” he said. “The course has five weeks of book work and five weeks of actual driving.”

The classes have six students in each course.

Melissa Dabb finished her Commercial Drivers License requirements and is now driving a semitruck for Herrick Services LLC.

The trucking industry isn’t so much concerned about gender. They are looking for qualified drivers, the B-Tech instructor said, and that is the same with heavy equipment. The need is there.

We are starting to see more people looking to broaden their horizons and go into trucking. Women make good drivers,” he said. “And they are getting good pay.”

He said driving a truck can be tough on a young family because the driver is not home very much, but he is seeing more middle-aged and retired people entering the program.

“We are hearing the starting wage for people in their first job is between $65K to $75K a year,” Liechty said. “They are making $2,500 a week for driving to the west coast and back twice a week.”

Bridgerland Technical College Commercial Drivers License instructor helps Quin Christensen with semi truck simulator on Monday Oct.25, 2022.

The trucking industry has struggled for decades to retain drivers and the pandemic made it worse. Shipping fleets were staffed mostly by male drivers for years.  Now they are looking to get more women behind the wheel to fill the gaps. Experts in the trucking industry are anticipating a shortage of 100,000 drivers by 2023; recruitment efforts directed at women and non-traditional drivers is becoming increasingly common.

Executives from Fleet Advantage say the long-term success of any business calls for a diverse body of talent that can bring fresh ideas, perspectives, and viewpoints into the workplace, and that organizations are trying to create a culture of diverse individuals from all races, genders, education levels, and cultural backgrounds.

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