Ellen Voie

Ellen Voie is an internationally recognized speaker and authority on gender diversity and inclusion for women working in non-traditional careers in transportation. She has been invited to speak to audiences in Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Viet Nam, France, Mexico, and Canada in addition to being a popular speaker at conferences throughout the United States. She has also been interviewed by major news networks including Fox News, Fox Business News, Bloomberg News, and Voice of America.

Voie founded the Women In Trucking Association in March of 2007, with a mission to promote the employment of women in the trucking industry, to remove obstacles that might keep them from succeeding, and to celebrate the successes of its members.

Since 2017, Voie has been hosting the Women In Trucking Show on SiriusXM’s Road Dog Trucking Channel 146 each Saturday from 10:00 am to noon central.

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Career

Voie’s prior role was the Manager of Retention and Recruiting Programs at Schneider, Inc. She was responsible for creating corporate-level programs to encourage non-traditional groups to consider careers in the trucking industry and designed initiatives to eliminate (or reduce) irritants that lead to driver dissatisfaction, which ultimately affects turnover. She also was responsible for communication to drivers (newsletter, audio magazine and driver website).

From March of 2000 through January 2006, Voie served as the Executive Director of Trucker Buddy International, Inc., a pen pal program between professional drivers and elementary students. She had served on the Board for three years prior and had become familiar with the program and its mission, and under her guidance the organization grew to become an internationally recognized mentoring initiative. In 2021, she will serve on the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee (MCSAC).

Voie’s background in the trucking industry began as the assistant and later Traffic Manager for a steel fabricating plant in central Wisconsin. She then worked as a dispatcher for a grain hauling carrier before becoming co-owner of a small fleet. After starting a family, she used her background to become a freelance transportation consultant to carriers in Wisconsin, licensing and permitting trucks for more than 16 years. 

Education

Voie earned her diploma in Traffic and Transportation Management in 1980 from LaSalle Extension University. In 2005, Voie earned the Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential from the American Society of Association Executives, the leading authority in association management and a professional society for the association industry.

In 2008, she attended Tri-C Truck Driver Academy in Cleveland, OH to earn her Class A Commercial Drivers License (CDL).

Voie earned her Master’s Degree in Communication from the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, where she completed her Thesis research on the complex identities of women married to professional drivers. In 2015, she completed the Strategic Leadership program at the Smeal College of Business at Penn State. In 2018, Voie completed the Finance for Strategic Decision Making program at the Smeal College of Business at Penn State. Voie also completed the Women In Trucking Professional Development Certification.

In 2022, Voie completed the LTL Certification through SMC3. The course is led by leading university-level instructors and delivers up to 40 hours of content throughout LTL coursework. Upon earning this SMC3-backed distinction, students will have developed the skills and competencies demanded by the 21st century LTL industry. Additionally she completed the Communication Strategy for Leaders program and received the Strategy & Organizational Performance Certificate at the Smeal College of Business at Penn State.

In January of 2023, she completed the Customer Experience Certificate Program at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.

Recognition

• In 2024, Voie was selected as Top Female Leader of the Year in the Trucking Industry by IAOTP.
• In 2023, Voie was awarded the Nettie Fowler Champion of Change Award by Navistar, Inc. and Pinnacle Award for Lifetime Achievement by the National Home Delivery Association; was named one of The 10 Most Inspiring CEOs Making a Difference in 2023 and Top 10 Pioneering Business Leaders to follow in 2023 by CIO Outlook; a 2023 Social Impact Woman to Watch by Nonprofit HR; one of the Top 10 Inspiring Women Leaders to Follow in 2023 by The Business Berg Magazine; named one of the 10 Successful Women Leaders to Follow in 2023 by PerceptiveX; named a WISE (Women Impacting Supply Chain Excellence) Legend honoree; and featured in CIO Media "A Trailblazer in Empowering Women in the Trucking Industry" and Elite X.
  
  
• In 2022, she was named one of the 10 Most Visionary Business Leaders of 2022 by Fortunes Crown; one of the 10 Most Inspiring Women Leaders to Follow in 2022 by Insights Success Magazine; Most Influential Business Women to Watch in 2022 by Business Berg Magazine; Leading Light: Most Inspiring Women Leaders 2022 and Awe-inspiring: Extremely Impressive Personalities to Watch for 2022 by The CIO Today; named one of the 10 Most Influential CEOs Reforming Business by Insights Success Magazine; and was featured on the Mid-America Trucking Show Wall of Fame.
  
  
• In 2021, she was appointed to a two-year term on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee, was recognized in CIO Look's "Empowering Women into Most Powerful Positions", profiled in Insights Success: 'A True Inspiration for Emerging Woman Entrepreneurs' and 'Inspiring Women Leaders Making a Difference', named to Aspioneer's 2021 Elite Women in Business list, named Most Diligent Businesswomen to watch in 2021 by The Enterprise World, named one of the Inspiring Business Women to Watch in 2021 by Business Foster Magazine, and World's 10 Most Successful Entrepreneurs Making a Difference in 2021 by World's Leaders Magazine.

• In 2020, she was named by Business Brainiac magazine as one of, “The 10 Most Trailblazing Business Leaders to Watch in 2020,” one of the “Top five coolest women making waves in the supply chain sector” by Supply Chain Digital, 2020's Most Influential Women to Watch by Insights Success Magazine, one of the Ten Inspiring CEOs to watch out for in 2020, CIO Look's "10 Most Innovative CEOs Revamping the Future", and CEO Monthly's Gender Diversity Director of the Year and Most Influential Woman in Road Transport. Additionally, Voie was featured in North America Outlook magazine and the first inductee into the Howes Hall of Fame.
  
  
• In 2019, Voie was named the Cinderella to CEO of the Year to recognize women who have overcome obstacles to change businesses, communities and industries for the better; The Leader's Globe "One of the Ten Most Successful Business Women Leaders"; CIO Magazine's "Women Leaders Making a Difference"; one of Insight Success Magazine's "Companies with Most Disruptive Innovation," The Business Berg’s “Business Achievers Making a Difference 2019,” Enterprise World’s, “Influential Women In Business 2019,” CIO Views Magazine included Voie in the December 2019 distinction, “The Path-braking Journey of 10 Influential Businesswomen"; Exeleon Magazine named the Women In Trucking Association as, “15 Best Companies to Work for in 2019,” and her blog "Ellen's Blog" was named Fronetics' Top Three Logistics and Supply Chain Blogs.
  

• In 2018, Voie was named by "Beyond Exclamation Magazine" as one of the "Top 10 Shepreneurs through the Glass Ceiling and Beyond," Aspioneer Magazine’s “2018 Flying High Women Leaders," and Insight Success Magazine’s “20 Successful Businesswoman to Watch,” as well as was named the National Association of Small Trucking Companies (NASTC) “Transportation Person of the Year.” 
  
  
• In 2017, Voie was named to Insight Success Magazine’s “The 50 Most Empowering Women in Business” and "The 30 Most Innovative CEOs To Watch."  
  
  
• In May 2016, she was chosen as one of Fleet Owner’s Dozen Outstanding Women In Trucking. She also was named one of Supply & Demand Chain Executives magazine’s “2016 Pros to Know,” which honors select supply chain executives who are leading initiatives to help their clients, companies, or the supply chain community at large to prepare for the significant challenges in the year ahead.
  
  
• She received the 2015 “Distinguished Alumna of the Year” award from her alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Division of Communication.
  
  
• In 2014, she was awarded the Frank W. Babbitt award from the Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association. This annual recognition is given to an individual who has demonstrated outstanding service to the trucking industry and association as a whole. Voie is also the recipient of the Skinner Humanitarian award, presented annually to a trucking advocate in her state. 

• In July 2012, she was honored by the White House as a Transportation Innovators Champion of Change.
  

Community & Industry Involvement

In her effort to promote the trucking industry to the public, Voie helped found and organize Trucker’s Pride Day in Waupaca, Wisconsin, which grew to include thousands of visitors to this annual truck show. She convinced Governor Tommy Thompson to proclaim the event as a statewide “Trucker Appreciation Day” in Wisconsin. She also worked as an advocate for women married to truck drivers. She assisted in promoting and expanding the Families of Trucker’s Support Group, where she was active in providing a network for women who felt isolated because of their lifestyle.

In 2015, Voie was appointed to serve a two-year term on the FMCSA’s Entry Level Driver Training Advisory Committee. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Wisconsin Motor Carrier Association and is a member of the Wisconsin DOT’s Motor Carrier Advisory Committee. She was involved in adapting the Wisconsin Driver’s Manual to include information on sharing the road with trucks. She also has served as chairwoman of the ATA Safety and Loss Prevention Council’s Recruiting and Retention committee and on the ATA Image and Communications Committee.

Voie served as President of Mensa of Wisconsin/Upper MI from 2010-2014. She also served on the Mensa of Wisconsin Foundation during that time. In 2013, she was elected to the board of directors of American Mensa and served as the Regional Vice Chair for two years. She serves on the board of directors for Transport for Christ International. She has also served on the Saint Christopher’s Fund board of directors and the Truck Writers of North America board of directors. Voie currently serves on the board of directors for the National Transportation Center where she is the Vice Chair.

Voie has written extensively about trucking and family issues, and her articles have appeared in print and internet magazines. She has also published a book, Marriage in the Long Run, a collection of some of her most popular columns. Her most recent book, Crushing Cones, was written to provide potential drivers with information on what to expect when attending driver training school. In addition to these, she created a workbook for professional drivers and their families which assists the driver’s family in coping with the time and distance apart.