With the country's unemployment rate at a 50-year low, transportation and logistics service providers are struggling to fill open positions. Now, the trucking, intermodal, and logistics services company Schneider has launched a recruiting initiative that targets a demographic that has historically been underrepresented in the trucking profession: women.
Green Bay, Wisconsin-based Schneider collaborated with the nonprofit group Women In Trucking to create the position of "driver ambassador" within Women In Trucking's diversity recruitment program. The ambassador's mission will be to encourage people of all genders, and particularly females, to consider a career in the trucking industry.
In February, the partners named their first ambassador: Kellylynn McLaughlin, a Schneider driver and trainer who has also volunteered in the Peace Corps, Truckers Against Trafficking, and other driving-related groups throughout the last decade.
As a driver ambassador, McLaughlin will attend driver events like the Mid-America Trucking Show and Great American Trucking Show. She will also visit commercial driver's license (CDL) training schools, conferences like Uber's Elevate Summit, and college campuses to raise awareness of careers in the trucking profession.
"We want to encourage the employment of women in the industry," Debbie Sparks, vice president of Women In Trucking, said in a release. "Women don't think of themselves as professional drivers, so when they see Kellylynn, they think, 'If she can do it, I can do it.' She is sophisticated, articulate, passionate, and perfect for this role."
