We Celebrate These Accomplished Women in Transportation
This month marks the 113th celebration of International Women’s month. This March, we celebrate the progress of the women who have made great contributions to the transportation industry. Over the years, women have paved the way for inclusivity across the supply chain to become more and more common. Today women have increased their share of transportation and utilities occupations to 24.1%, which includes making up over 10% of the over-the-road driver workforce.
Women have helped shape the industry into what it is today. As we all aim to attract more women to the transportation industry, we encourage them to grow their continued participation in an industry that has gained so much by their influence.
Women Who Paved the Way in the Transportation Industry
To make way for this growth, women have been making contributions to the transportation industry for a long time. Courageous women in transportation play a crucial role in shaping the society we live in, from female supervisors to traffic control operators. Here are just a few women who have paved the way:
- Mary Anderson, inventor of the windshield wiper. On Nov, 10 1903 Mary Anderson received the patent for the ‘window cleaning device.’ She was recognized in 2011 and inducted into the International Inventors Hall of Fame. Today, windshield wipers come standard in all commercial vehicles, which is an essential part of COOP Renter’s winter driving today due to water spray coming off the tires ahead.
- Marilyn Jorgenson Reece, California’s 1st Female Civil Engineer. In 1954, Reece became the first woman to be a fully licensed civil engineer in California. She is credited with the design of the interchange of the Santa Monica Freeway (interstate 10) and the San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405), which won her the Governor’s Design Excellence Award. In January of 2021, COOP’s launch in the California market relied on this same interchange for the first reservations that paved the way for the platform in California.
- Luella Bates, first female licensed commercial truck driver. Through the early 1900s, Bates’ position at Four Wheel Drive Auto (FWD) was the start of her path to become the first licensed female commercial truck driver. She literally paved the way by touring FWD vehicles across the U.S. as a goodwill ambassador. Today, female commercial truck drivers make up over 10% of the industry thanks to Bates' lead.
COOP has its own female leaders in-company. At COOP by Ryder, our team is proudly made up of over 40% women, many of whom make up our leadership. Even in the uncertain times brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the women on COOP’s team have persevered and helped drive us forward to a nationwide launch of our commercial vehicle sharing platform.
There’s still room to grow, and COOP is just one part of inclusivity in an industry that makes up a 505 billion dollar industry in the U.S. Thank you women leaders in the transportation space for helping shape the future of our industry!
