Trucking award honors ‘female role models and trailblazers’ in the industry

After narrowing the list to three finalists, the Women in Trucking Association has named the winner of its 2023 Influential Woman in Trucking Award.

On Tuesday, Nov. 7, the Plover, Wis.-based organization named Shelley Simpson, president of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc., as the recipient of this year’s award.

Announced as J.B. Hunt’s president in July 2022, Simpson has served in a number of executive leadership roles with the company over her 28-year career. Prior to being elected as president by the company’s board of directors, Simpson served as chief commercial officer and executive vice president of people and human resources.

“Shelley’s passion and leadership for this field, including her commitment to expanding gender diversity in transportation, have been evident throughout her nearly 30-year career,” Jennifer Hedrick, WIT president and CEO, said in a statement.

Other finalists for this year’s award included:

• Tori Blake, chief financial officer and co-owner, Western Logistics Express and WLX
• Megan Ferguson, vice president of end-to-end delivery acceleration, Walmart

The annual honor has been presented by the group since 2011. According to WIT, the award “recognizes the achievements of female role models and trailblazers in the trucking industry.”

Previous winners of WIT’s Influential Woman in Trucking Award include Trina Norman, Southern California feeder operations manager for UPS and Lily Ley, vice president and chief information officer of Paccar.

Women of Trucking Advisory Board

Established by Congress as part of the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, the goal of the Women of Trucking Advisory Board is to “review and report on policies that provide education, training, mentorship and outreach to women in the trucking industry” to FMCSA. Additionally, the board aims to “identify barriers and industry trends that directly or indirectly discourage women from pursuing and retaining careers in trucking.”

Over the past year, the 15-member board has met several times to discuss specific tasks assigned by FMCSA.

In October, the board held its final meeting with a discussion topic, completing that phase of its agenda. Now the board’s final report committee is tasked with compiling the group’s recommendations into a summarizing report for FMCSA Administrator Robin Hutcheson.

Members of WOTAB’s Final Report Committee include:

• Joyce Sauer Brenny, founder and president, Brenny Transportation, Inc. and Brenny Specialized, Inc.
• Dianne McNair-Smith, CEO, 3 Girls Trucking Academy
• Kellylynn McLaughlin, professional driver, Clean Harbors, Inc.
• Sharae Moore, founder/president, SHE Trucking Foundation
• Nicole Ward, co-founder, African American Women in Trucking Association
• Soledad Munoz Smith, vice president of operations, Munoz Trucking

Once the board’s report has been submitted to FMCSA, the agency will have one year to deliver its own report to Congress detailing the findings of the board, along with “any actions taken by the Administrator to adopt the recommendations, or an explanation of the reasons for not adopting the recommendations.”

The board’s final meeting is scheduled to take place on Monday, Nov. 13, with Hutcheson expected to attend briefly. The meeting will be held virtually and is open to the public. You can register to attend here. LL