ATRI’s Brewster Selected as 2013 Woman in Trucking

This story appears in the March. 11 print edition of Transport Topics.

LAS VEGAS — Rebecca Brewster, president and chief operating officer of the American Transportation Research Institute, was recognized here with the 2013 Influential Woman in Trucking Award.

The award from Navistar Inc. and the Women in Trucking Association was presented during the Truckload Carriers Association meeting on March 5.

Ellen Voie, president of the Women in Trucking Association, praised Brewster’s role in research, which “has given us insights into efficiency, safety and driver well-being.”

Jan Allman, vice president of manufacturing operations for Navistar, said, “It’s not easy to play and win in what has traditionally been a male-dominated world, and women like Rebecca demonstrate it can be done.”

Saying it was a “very nice surprise,” Brewster told Transport Topics, “The award is recognition of what ATRI is and what we represent to the trucking industry. We do have the ability to make the industry safer and more productive by bringing data and facts to the discussion.”

Brewster has a 20-year career with ATRI, an affiliate of American Trucking Associations. She joined the group after working as a private fleet analyst for faucet maker Moen Corp. and for a North Carolina chamber of commerce.

She said she wanted to serve as a mentor who reminds women to move beyond the fear of taking the next step and to “not be afraid to grab the brass ring.”

“I never focused on what the differences are [between men and women],” she said. “I have always focused on doing a good job to get ahead. I hope this recognition focuses on what you can accomplish. Transportation research isn’t something people think of and wake up to say they are going to do it, but you can really make a difference.”

The other 2013 finalists were Lana Batts, co-president of Driver iQ; Judy McReynolds, CEO of Arkansas Best Corp.; and Sandra Ambrose-Clark, owner of ESJ Carrier Corp.

Winners were chosen from more than 100 applicants by three judges: Voie; Howard Abramson, publisher of Transport Topics Publishing Group; and last year’s winner, Joyce Brenny, president of Brenny Transportation Inc.

“We at American Trucking Associations are thrilled to see Rebecca honored as an influential woman in trucking,” said ATA President Bill Graves. “Her work at ATRI has influenced not just our work here at ATA but the way our industry operates on a very fundamental level. Women in Trucking could not have selected a more deserving honoree.”

The award presentation followed a panel discussion including Brenny; Ambrose-Clark; Deborah Hersman, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board; and Ann Wilson, senior director of regional transportation for Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s private fleet.

The panelists offered varied insights on their motivation and experience.

“We need more diversity, not in terms of how we look or where we are from,” said Wilson, the only woman among 12 senior directors who manage a 7,000-truck private fleet. “We need more diversity of ideas.”

Hersman, who has a commercial driver license and traveled by truck to a 2011 industry conference, stressed the need for more opportunities for women in government-related transport posts.

“We need more women in positions where they can demonstrate their knowledge, skills and abilities,” she said. “People almost always underestimate me. It is always better to overdeliver than underdeliver.”

“I am not sure transportation is much different than other industries,” said Hersman. “We don’t raise our girls to think of certain career paths. Things are going to change. These are good jobs in rail, trucking or aviation. We need people to think these are good jobs.”

One example she cited was women — who typically have smaller hands — to be aircraft mechanics who can reach tight spaces not accessible to larger men.

Transportation was a family business for Ambrose-Clark, who took over the company after her father died.

“I want women to realize this is a fabulous industry in which to have a career,” she said.

Wilson added: “I don’t think women understand the opportunities that are there. It’s not just driving a truck or working on the dock.”

She said she demonstrates opportunities for women by working with university transportation programs, offering facility tours and “job shadowing” for students with trucking workers.

Brenny, whose company has a 92% driver retention rate, said, “I completely believe you have to put people before profits.”

The former driver said she started her company because she saw that drivers weren’t being recognized. “Anything I can do to help truck drivers is the first thing on my list,” she said.

Panelists said it was always difficult, and sometimes impossible, to find a balance between work and family.

“We do have to make tough choices,” Wilson said, noting that technology enabled the flexibility to work at home, though she still encounters people who make snide remarks when she leaves the office early.

Ambrose-Clark agreed, illustrating flexibility by creating a full-time work-at-home position after a worker had back surgery.