ASHWAUBENON, Wis. — KellyLynn McLaughlin is part of the 8 percent.

That’s about how many women make up the ranks of the nation’s truck drivers.

“When I started five years ago, we were about 3 percent of the driver population. We’re up to about 8 percent, but I’d like to see it be more,” she said.

McLaughlin drives from Green Bay-based Schneider. It’s also the driver ambassador with the Women In Trucking Association, headquartered in Plover, Wisconsin.

“There are so many opportunities in this industry that I just don’t think we share and talk about with our young women, actually women of any age,” she said. “There’s a role in this industry for ladies and gentlemen no matter what stage of life you’re at.”

McLaughlin, who is based in Texas, was attracted to the industry when she was the director of logistics for her kid’s high school marching band, which entailed moving equipment by truck. That job — including it's inherent problem solving —  made such an impression it's now what she does for a living.

“It’s kind of like a math problem and it’s constantly changing,” she said. ”As you’re going down the road you’re accommodating for vehicles that have a different speed, you work on your ETA. And there’s a level of physics and dynamics. We’re an 80,000 pound vehicle: how long does it take us to stop or speed up or merge in or merge out.”

The industry has faced a chronic shortage of drivers for decades. That’s not expected to end.

A 2019 report from the American Trucking Associations projects a need for as many as 160,000 drivers by 2028.

Schneider, and most other trucking companies, are on a continual search for prospective drivers.

“We’re in need of drivers. There’s a driver shortage and the COVID pandemic has exasperated that,” said Tammy Grunert, Schneider’s associate relations manager. “Partially because of the social distancing, the masking and schools were closed for a while, so we didn’t have that influx of people attending driving schools, getting their CDLs which further impacted the driver shortage.”  

The role truck drivers play in day-to-day life has been spotlighted by the pandemic.

And, in the case of McLaughlin, by being part of the profession.

“I was one of the general public who took the freight movement industry and drivers for granted,” she said. “ didn’t really appreciate the importance of their role in our country’s infrastructure and survival and economy.”