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Transportation Provides Career Choices for Women
Transportation Provides Many Career Choices for Women
Trucking contributes more than $732 billion in gross freight revenue, representing 80 percent of the nation’s freight bill in 2020, according to the American Trucking Associations. In fact, trucking drives the nation’s considerable economy and there is a diverse range of career options, including equipment design, manufacturing, warehousing and fleet operations, sales and marketing, mechanic, and professional driver.
While trucking is a male-populated industry, there are many opportunities for women as well. Redefining the Road magazine highlights some of the industry’s successful female professionals who are doing amazing things in transportation and logistics.
Aldijana Miljkovic
From Corporate to Entrepreneur
Aldijana Miljkovic is the owner of Lina Express, a Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) certified trucking company. She started her career working as a receptionist with no experience or knowledge in the trucking industry. Moving quickly up the corporate ladder, she held many different roles. Through this process, she realized her passion for the industry. To further explore this passion, Miljkovic purchased her first truck as a side job and became an owner-operator. She hired her
Roberta McKenna
Hauling Hazardous Shipments
Roberta McKenna is a professional driver for Clean Harbors National Transportation. She is one of the few women in the company who hauls loads of hazardous material across the country for this leading provider of environmental, energy and industrial services. It’s no easy feat, but she says being behind the wheel is her “happy place.” Much like the roads she traverses daily, her journey to a successful career as a female driver certainly was not without bumps, but now that she’s found her way to Clean Harbors, she happy to say it feels like home. Growing up in Malaga, Ohio, McKenna spent much of her childhood on her family’s first team drivers as she continued working as an operations manager. After five years, her side business grew to eight trucks and a team of drivers.
“I’m proud I got my WOSB certificate and am now running my own company, under my own authority,” she says. “We specialize in power only LTL 48 states.” Today, Miljkovic has been in the industry for nearly a decade and is a successful entrepreneur. Her goal is to empower other women and make sure they know that they can do anything, regardless of what others say. Because of her inspirational story, Miljkovic was featured this year as the January WIT Member of the Month.
beef farm, operating tractors, bulldozers, and trucks to assist with the daily rigors of maintaining a beef farm. It was then that she fell in love with driving. With more than 36 years in the transportation industry (eight of which have been at Clean Harbors), McKenna feels that most of her experiences have made her who she is today – strong, powerful, and determined. “Be yourself, love yourself and the skin you are in,” she advises other female drivers. “Make the day what you want of it and never give up. We are all in this together and together will be stronger.” Because of her grit and determination, McKenna was named this year’s February WIT Member of the Month.
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Ginger Pitts
Finding Your Career Niche
Ginger Pitts is an automated side loader recycling truck driver for Waste Management (WM), North America’s leading provider of integrated environmental solutions. Pitts ran a restaurant in Enid, Okla., for almost 20 years before she started a business transporting pets of military families across the country from one duty station to the next. She visited nearly every state in the United States before being injured while acting as a good Samaritan helping a stranded motorist.
While Pitts was recuperating from her injuries, she started training to drive a school bus. This training put her on the pathway to becoming a professional truck driver. She drove a school bus until the school district shut down in May 2020 due to the pandemic. Pitts saw that WM was hiring and decided to apply. She was hired and said she had finally found her niche. She says the joysticktype controller is like playing a video game: “There’s a great deal of skill involved in using the joystick to empty the recycling carts without damaging or knocking them down.” Pitts loves her job and encourages other women to enter the trucking industry, saying: “Don’t hesitate! Women can do anything. It’s a great industry. Jump in and enjoy the ride!” Because of her enthusiasm for her career, Pitts was named this year’s March WIT Member of the Month.
Jennifer Macalaguin
Bringing A Woman’s Perspective to Truck Design
Jennifer Macalaguin is Vice President of Engineering at Navistar, the parent company of International® brand commercial trucks and engines. As a female engineer, Macalaguin brings a different perspective to the role of designing trucks. “I represent women and their unique needs and requirements that need to be considered when designing our vehicles,” she says. “There are concerns and variables that I’m more acutely aware of because I am a woman. I make sure that my perspective and insights are expressed and heard.” Macalaguin is passionate about innovation and application of Design Thinking that resulted in her being recognized with numerous awards. She continues to explore her interests, stays committed to her passions, and embraces opportunities to explore new ideas. She completed an executive program at Stanford University focused on customer innovation and INSEAD at France focused on global leadership. Persistence, determination, and a positive perspective on challenges all are crucial to success. “It is important not to be intimidated or discouraged by challenges,” says Macalaguin. “You should think of obstacles as opportunities to grow rather than roadblocks. There will always be roadblocks on the journey to success. The key to success is to have persistence in the face of challenges.” Because of her unique career success story, Macalaguin was named this year’s April WIT Member of the Month. n
