The award, created in 2010 and sponsored this year by TrueBlue’s Centerline Drivers, honors women who are changing trucking through leadership, innovation, and advocacy.

WIT put it this way: “This year’s finalists represent a range of leadership roles across the industry who have made a measurable impact on their organizations and communities.”

The 2025 Finalists

Here are the four leaders being recognized:

• Cindy Ellers, chief customer officer at Fleetworthy
  • Dee Dee Cox, vice president of human resources at Old Dominion Freight Line
  • Katerina Jones, chief marketing officer at Fleet Advantage
  • Leah Shaver, president and CEO of The National Transportation Institute

Cindy Ellers – Supporting Fleets and Standing Up for Women

Ellers oversees customer strategy and growth at Fleetworthy, a company focused on fleet safety, compliance, and toll management. Since joining in 2021, she has helped the company grow fast and manage several acquisitions without losing focus on service.

She has spent more than 15 years leading customer-facing teams and previously worked with compliance tech at RDC, which later became part of Moody’s Corp.

Ellers does not stop at operations. She also created Fleetworthy’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee and launched internal Women in Leadership panels to help women climb in an industry that is still mostly male. She is known for mentoring others and helping them build careers in transportation and logistics.

Dee Dee Cox – Building Careers from the Ground Up

With three decades in HR and leadership, Cox now leads human resources at Old Dominion. She manages everything from hiring and employee support to training and company culture.

She helped create and expand key programs that help people move up in the industry, including the Management Trainee Program, Supervisor Development Program, internships, and apprenticeships. Those efforts boosted retention and brought more women and underrepresented groups into trucking careers.

When she started, her HR team was one person. Now it is nearly 40 across the country. Cox also built a leadership curriculum that ties in Old Dominion’s core values, long-term vision, and family culture. Her work focuses on helping more people, especially women, see trucking as a place to grow.

Katerina Jones – Driving Growth and Safety Awareness

Jones brings over 20 years of experience in marketing and client relations. At Fleet Advantage, she helped turn the company into a billion-dollar brand and plays a direct role when new private and for-hire fleets come on board.

As part of the senior leadership team, she is involved in shaping operations, strategy, human resources, and company culture. She also acts as a safety liaison and leads demonstrations that show fleets how advanced safety tech can protect drivers.

Her work across the industry has earned her several awards, including “Top Woman to Watch in Transportation” from WIT and “Top Female Professional” from Supply Chain & Demand Chain Executive. Beyond her day job, she is active in charitable work and industry councils.

Leah Shaver – Championing Driver Pay and Retention

Shaver leads The National Transportation Institute, best known for tracking driver pay and helping carriers improve compensation and retention. Her work centers on turning data into real strategies that keep drivers in the industry.

With nearly 25 years in trucking, she has helped fleets address pay structure, driver career paths, and workforce planning. She is also active in efforts to bring more women and younger people into trucking.

Shaver served three terms on WIT’s Board of Directors, sits on the Next Generation in Trucking Association board, and contributes to several capacity and fleet advisory groups.

Drivers may also recognize her from SiriusXM’s Road Dog Trucking Radio, where she speaks directly with drivers about pay, policy, and industry changes. She is widely seen as a leading voice for driver engagement and career stability.

What’s Next

All four finalists will speak during a panel at the WIT Accelerate Conference and Expo in Dallas, Texas, taking place November 9 through 12. The winner will be announced after the discussion.

If you want to look back at who took home the award in 2024, WIT has that story available online.

Sources: WIT and The Trucker

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U.S. Truck Drivers are in high demand but not many companies take the time to really offer meaningful careers that match truck drivers’ needs. That’s where MVL (Morgan Van Lines) sets itself apart from the rest. We take a customized approach to recruitment that focuses on the driver and what they need in their career. Then, we strive to provide it however we can.

First, MVL’s recruiters are committed to understanding what prospective CDL Class A drivers are looking for on the job. Questions include:

• What has happened previously in your career? What did you like or dislike?
• What is happening now that has prompted you to look for a new situation?
• Where would you like to see your driving career go? Is there a job type you’re most interested in?
• What are your earning and home time needs?

Next, MVL works to accommodate the needs of qualified drivers. This can include letting drivers customize their schedule to stay in a specific geographic region or a minimum number of miles the driver is looking for.

If higher earnings is the top reason the driver is looking to make a change, MVL will “load the wagon” with miles to keep earnings consistent.

If home time on a predictable schedule is the priority, MVL will schedule their work for 4-5 days to ensure they meet that need.

Many truck drivers want a combination of these factors so MVL works directly with each individual driver to find the best solution.

At MVL, we know making a change can be hard but we make it easier by rewarding new drivers to our fleet with higher pay based on their tenure at previous carriers. Nobody values loyalty more than MVL – it’s made our 50 years of success in the freight business possible.

These are just a few of the ways MVL goes above and beyond for our driving force. If you’re looking to make a change, connect with MVL’s recruiters and have a conversation that can change your future!

MVL always strives to go above and beyond for our driving force. Here’s just one way we show it: We have $1,000 weekly guaranteed pay but you’ll AVERAGE MORE LIKE $1,400 PER WEEK! And that’s not all – MVL also rewards new drivers to our fleet with higher pay based on their tenure at previous carriers.

Nobody values loyalty more than MVL – it’s made our 50 years of success in the freight business possible. Join MVL today to earn competitive pay and excellent benefits to provide for your family, while still being able to spend time with them.

Morgan Van Lines
2719 S Second St Boonville, MS 38829
662-728-2220

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Apply Today or call 843-266-3770!

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Around half of Maersk’s 2,000 available appointments for truckers at its giant terminal on the Port of Long Beach went unused one Friday, The Washington Post reported.

Experts say truckers aren’t showing up because they either don’t have the chassis available to hold the cargo or because warehouses are full. And the industry is still grappling with a record shortage of drivers.

The ports of LA and Long Beach have remained clogged for months because of the global supply chain crisis. Now, some say Biden’s all-hours schedule won’t resolve the supply chain jams on its own because it doesn’t address the entire supply chain.

“This level of operations is not an overnight, simple solution to implement – and does not solve the broader supply chain capacity challenges and shortage of workers in trucking, warehouse, and supply chain jobs,” Narin Phol, regional managing director of Maersk North America, said at an industry conference in South Carolina on Monday, The Post reported.

The US is also currently short of 80,000 truck drivers, which means there aren’t always enough people to collect the cargo that’s clogging the docks.

The California ports have announced that they will impose new fines on containers that are left on the docks for several days.

“Key issues such as chassis availability and empty container returns still need to be addressed,” the National Retail Federation said, according to The Post. “We encourage ocean carriers to continue to work with importers and truckers to move cargo as quickly as possible and not just pass along the cost of the fee, which will further exacerbate the problems.”

Story courtesy of Business Insider

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With the Amazon Relay portal, carriers of all sizes can tap into Amazon’s vast freight network with thousands of loads across 48 states with straight forward pricing and book the ones that work for them. And now, with Relay Rewards, carriers can participate in time-based promotions to win prizes like gift cards.

For one of the most sought-after Value Added Services, Amazon has partnered with Comdata to offer participating carriers fuel cards that can be used at over 150,000 locations and provides fuel discounts at Loves, TA Petro, Pilot and SC Fuels locations. Amazon’s Value Added Services also include maintenance discounts through TA Petro and Loves, and tire discounts through TA Petro, Loves, and Bridgestone. On top of the fuel, tire and maintenance discounts, carriers can get personal protective equipment discounts through Safety4her, and vehicle insurance discounts through McGriff.

The Amazon Relay app, Load Board and carrier portal are all free to use when working with Amazon. For more information, please visit https://relay.amazon.com/.

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