by Women In Trucking Staff, on Jun 15, 2026
WIT Image Team member Kellylynn McLaughlin brings a front-line voice to national conversation on HazMat and infrastructure challenges during a panel discussion at Sam Houston State University.
When policymakers, researchers, and security professionals gather to tackle the nation's most pressing infrastructure challenges, the perspective of the professional driver behind the wheel is often the most valuable — and least heard — voice in the room. That changed at the SHSU Institute for Homeland Security (IHS) Safety Symposium, where Women In Trucking (WIT) Image Team member Kellylynn McLaughlin joined a panel discussion on HazMat and Infrastructure challenges, bringing the real-world experience of a professional commercial driver to a conversation that shapes national policy.
About the SHSU Institute for Homeland Security
The Institute for Homeland Security at Sam Houston State University is one of the country's leading academic centers for critical infrastructure research and education. Focused on building strategic partnerships between public and private organizations, the IHS works across four key sectors: Transportation, Energy, Chemical, and Healthcare.
The Institute serves as a center for strategic thought with the goal of contributing to the security, resilience, and business continuity of these sectors from a homeland security perspective. This is accomplished through collaborative initiatives, education programs, and applied research designed to enhance the skills of practitioners responding to both natural and human-caused events.
The IHS Safety Symposium brings together national leaders, researchers, and industry professionals for deep-dive discussions on the most critical issues in infrastructure protection and resilience. It is precisely this kind of forum — where academic research meets practitioner expertise — where the voice of a professional driver hauling hazardous materials across America's highways is not just welcome, but essential.
Kellylynn McLaughlin: A Career Built on Experience and Advocacy
Kellylynn McLaughlin is not your typical conference panelist. She's a professional CMV (commercial motor vehicle) driver with more than 10 years of experience spanning dry-van operations, driver training, specialized equine transport, and over-the-road hazardous materials hauling. She currently drives for Clean Harbors Environmental Services, where her work puts her in direct contact with the HazMat and infrastructure realities that were front and center at the symposium.
Before she ever got behind the wheel, McLaughlin’s path was anything but conventional. She earned a degree in interior design from Oklahoma State University, served in the Peace Corps, worked internationally for a nonprofit organization, and built a career as a professional instructor in passenger safety. It was, of all things, her role as director of logistics for her children's marching band that revealed her love of driving, problem-solving, and logistics — a passion that launched an entirely new career in trucking.
That diverse background — humanitarian service, international work, safety instruction, and now hazardous materials transport — makes her an unusually well-rounded voice when discussing complex infrastructure and safety challenges.
A Legacy of Firsts with Women In Trucking
McLaughlin’s contributions to the trucking industry extend well beyond the cab. She holds the distinction of being the Women In Trucking Association's first-ever Driver Ambassador, a role in which she traveled the country speaking at truck schools, military career fairs, and high school events to educate the public about the trucking industry and open doors for the next generation of professional drivers.
She has also served on the FMCSA Women of Trucking Advisory Board (WOTAB), TravelCenters of America Women’s Safety Advisory Panel, TAT Advisory Council, among many others - demonstrating her standing as a credible voice in federal-level safety discussions.
Today, McLaughlin is a proud member of the Women In Trucking Image Team, a group established in 2015 to serve as the faces and voices of the female perspective in the trucking industry. As WIT President and CEO Jennifer Hedrick has described the team: "Members of the Image Team educate the industry and the public at-large on critical issues faced by female professional truck drivers. They share their personal and professional stories through creative content and social media. They are the faces and voices of the female perspective in the trucking industry."
Bringing the Driver's Voice to HazMat & Infrastructure Discussions
McLaughlin’s participation on the HazMat and Infrastructure panel at the SHSU IHS Symposium is a natural extension of both her professional work and her advocacy mission. As an over-the-road driver hauling hazardous materials, she navigates the real-world intersection of transportation safety and infrastructure vulnerability every time she gets behind the wheel.
The challenges she speaks to are not theoretical. They include the condition and security of the roads, bridges, and logistics networks that HazMat drivers depend on; the emergency response protocols and training gaps that exist in communities along major transportation corridors; the regulatory frameworks governing hazardous materials transport; and the unique challenges faced by professional drivers — particularly women — operating in high-stakes, safety-critical roles.
By joining researchers and security professionals at an event focused on critical infrastructure protection, McLaughlin’s helps ensure that policy and research are grounded in the realities of the people doing the work. That practitioner-to-policymaker connection is exactly what events like the IHS Symposium are designed to foster.
Why It Matters
The trucking industry moves approximately 72% of all freight in the United States, and a significant portion of that freight includes hazardous materials — chemicals, fuels, and other substances that, if mishandled or involved in an incident, can pose serious threats to public safety and infrastructure. Professional truck drivers like McLaughlin are on the front lines of that responsibility every single day.
Their participation in homeland security and infrastructure conversations isn't a courtesy — it's a necessity. When symposiums like the one hosted by SHSU's IHS bring professional drivers to the table alongside academics and policy experts, the result is more informed research, more practical policy, and ultimately a safer, more resilient national infrastructure.
Kellylynn McLaughlin's presence at the SHSU IHS Safety Symposium is a testament to what the Women In Trucking Image Team represents: that the expertise of professional drivers matters, that women have a vital and growing role in transportation and security, and that the conversations shaping our nation's infrastructure are stronger when the people behind the wheel have a seat at the table.
View Panel Discussion on YouTube
To learn more about the Women In Trucking Association and the Image Team, visit womenintrucking.org. To learn more about the SHSU Institute for Homeland Security, visit ihsonline.org.
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