By Al Muskewitz

It was one of the organization’s most closely guarded secrets of the year, but Friday afternoon the Women In Trucking Association unveiled its Driver Ambassador Trailer and formally named the rig.

Through a vote of WITA members and stakeholders, WITney was the winning name for the truck and trailer being deployed to help raise awareness of the non-profit’s mission of promoting career opportunities women have in trucking, celebrating their accomplishments, removing obstacles they face in the industry and increasing membership for the organization.

The announcement was made during the association’s 2020 Accelerate! virtual conference and expo.

The name is an homage to the association’s abbreviation and was chosen over other finalists Luella (named after the first female commercial truck driver), Tanya Trucker, Wander Woman and Willa Storm from more than 100 suggestions.

The winning trailer design, a concept of Turbo Studio in Canada, features an empowered woman wearing a cape behind the wheel with the messages, ‘Redefining the Road,’ ‘Safe, Strong, Independent,’ and “You Can Do It!’ embossed on its walls. Turbo Graphics will install the wrap.

“It knocks your socks off,” WITA vice president Debbie Sparks told Wright Media in an earlier interview. “It meets every expectation we have. When I first came on board my fear was we don’t want to make the exterior kind of mediocre. We had some mockups and it wasn’t working. … We knew we needed something over the top. We know with this wrap heads are gonna turn.”

Schneider donated the power unit for the project and WalMart donated the 53-foot reefer trailer.

The trailer is split off into three sections: a main room containing interactive kiosks with driver-centric videos and exhibits on the history of women in trucking and various aspects of the industry, a theater room and a truck driving simulator. The simulator and theater will be linked for group educational purposes.

Some of the interactive programs will give visitors a chance to see if they have the DNA to become a truck driver and how much they actually know of all that goes into being a driver. Even if they don’t pass muster as a driver, visitors will have the opportunity to learn about other career options in industry, like fleet management, operations, safety and finance.

The simulator is being installed by Advanced Training Systems, a California-based tech developer that provides cutting-edge adaptive training systems to improve training and produce safer drivers. It will be introduced at a Schneider company function in the Southwest in January.

After a few other soft visits, the trailer will make its formal debut at the Mid-America Truck Show in Louisville next spring.

Kellylynn McLaughlin, a professional over-the-road driver and training engineer for Schneider, will drive the truck around the country. The name is especially poignant for her. Wit was her dad's name; he passed before he could see her as a driver.

“I cannot wait to hit the road with our new expo trailer,” she said. “It’s going to be a powerful and very visible symbol of what women have to offer the freight industry. I will be so proud to haul it.” 

Al Muskewitz is the Editor at Wright Media. He can be reached at musky@wrightmediacorp.com