Strive to Drive
By Hannah MacDonald-Dannecker, Better Together Group
I think it is safe to say that people are a result of their environment, at least personally, this would be my experience. Over the course of history, little girls and the transportation industry have not typically co-existed. Little girls do not typically think that big trucks rolling down the highway are the coolest vehicles on the road. Little girls did not often see truck drivers as heroes. Little girls did not normally strive to drive.
For my mother – this was not the case. My mom was raised as a truck driver’s daughter. Telling me stories through my childhood about how she would get in the truck with her dad and drive from Wisconsin to California and back again. Just a simple 68-hour drive, right? Casual work, right? Wrong. While most people see transportation as an unprofessional skill, I would beg to differ. Transportation is anything but casual.
When I was in my early years of grade school, my father had an entrepreneurial brain and a need to feed his family. Naturally combined with my mom’s past and our future together as a family, Revolution Staffing was born. Founded on the goal to revolutionize the way people not only see but feel about the transportation industry as a whole, I did not really understand the need for this just yet.
As a child, I came to the office with my father on a regular basis. Sitting at the front desk, answering phone calls with a fake name and the voice of an adolescent. I would nap under my father’s desk at his feet on the putting green because it felt like a fort and the workdays were still too long for my little body to stay awake. I grew up attending Truck World, fascinated by the shiny exteriors and bright lights. As a kid, it felt like the largest playground with the heroes behind the wheel who delivered everything I ever loved at home. My toys. My food. My schoolbooks. They all came in a truck. My childhood introduction to transportation made it so that when the time came, I was open to working in the industry.
As a teenager, I began to understand the need to revolutionize within the industry. The need for the fake name over the phone as drivers began to say things like, “Bella, what a beautiful voice you have. Where can I come and meet you face to face sometime? For drinks, my Bella?” It was as though the once dazzling industry events completely altered resulting in dodging eye contact and the avoidance of elongated hugs from near strangers. I grew less and less inclined to attend. Moving from high school to university, transportation was the last thing I wanted to think about. So, that leaves the question. How did I end up going back into it?
By necessity. After stepping outside of my small world, leaving my hometown to go to University I was sad to learn that the issues I saw in the transportation industry were not only in the transportation industry. Rather, I began to see this male gaze glazed over every facet of my life. As unfortunate as it is, there is always going to be some degree of corruption in everything we see. No industry, company, or human is exempt from this including me because we are all imperfect humans. Coming to this understanding was crucial prior to my entry full time into the transportation industry.
After finishing my degree, I moved home during the pandemic. Due to world extremes, it was important to be close to the family and to the family business. Through my first few months back at Revolution Staffing, I was able to see the rise of transportation idolization. #Thankatrucker was trending, and everyone was paying attention to who was continuing to go to work every day and what they were doing. Masks? Mandatory. Food? Mandatory. Essentials? Mandatory. Transportation is not casual. Professional drivers are exactly what they sound like, professionals. Hauling 83,000 pounds on any “average” professional drivers are keeping the world turning. They deliver the essentials of the world and they do it while sharing a road and keeping four wheelers safe.
I teethed on trucking. Yet, it was still hard for me to really dig my teeth into transportation at first, much like it is for many other females. According to Stats Canada females have come up 1.7 per cent from 5.7 per cent in 2012 to 7.4 per cent in 2022 of the workforce in trades, transport, and equipment operators and related occupations. Over the course of history, little girls and the transportation industry do not typically coexist. Some things need to change.
First, we need to create a physically and psychologically safe environment for anyone to come and work. We can invite people all day long but if we do not first create a space where they can come and comfortably be themselves it will not matter how many people we invite in because they will not stay.
Next, we need to start introducing these vital careers to the next generation of employees while they are still young. Through the pandemic people of all generations saw how essential professional drivers are. I want to continue that momentum forward and introduce children to the importance of transportation today. Kids start to think about their future careers at the age of 6 and solidify some of those thoughts with actionable decisions that have the opportunity to affect their life forever at age 12. Let’s start meeting them where they are at, in the toy box.
Based on my personal experience I fell into transportation accidentally but now I choose to stay in it intentionally because I can see the value of what we do every day. If you are interested in supporting me in my desire to bring the next generation of female drivers into the industry through Truck Driver Barbie, reach out today. I would love to connect and see how you can join in and support the initiative. Let’s strive to help the next generation drive.
About the Author
Hannah MacDonad-Dannecker is a Public Speaker and Author helping bridge the gap between previous working generations and Gen Z to create an open environment where folks can work Better Together. She is also the host of the podcast Workish, which can be listened to on Spotify here.
About Better Together Group
Better Together is a group of companies built around the understanding that a good employee is a great investment and a good job at a great company is hard to find. Each of their three companies serve a unique market and demographic with specialists ready to serve you.