by Brian Everett, on Oct 06, 2026
There’s no single path that leads a woman to a career behind the wheel. For three members of the Women In Trucking Association’s 2026 WIT Image Team, those paths included being a single mother looking for an opportunity to grow, a military veteran searching for a new sense of purpose, and a woman who remembered the career advice her mother had given her years earlier.
During a recent WIT webinar, professional truck drivers Heather Wolff of Werner Enterprises, Krista Cardoso of Walmart and Tracy Larsen of FedEx Freight shared candid perspectives about finding their way into trucking, overcoming early challenges, discovering a supportive community and helping other women recognize the opportunities available in the industry.
Their stories are different, but one theme surfaces repeatedly: Take the chance. Ask questions. Find your community. And don’t underestimate where a career in trucking can take you.
Three Very Different Roads Into Trucking
Larsen, a Professional Driver and now a Driver Development Instructor with FedEx Freight, entered trucking as a single mother. She had been working on the dock but wanted to continue learning and growing professionally, and to set an example for her son. She entered FedEx’s driver development program, earned her CDL and pushed through a difficult beginning.
“I wanted to show my son that even though it was rough and I had a few bumps and bruises along the way, I got up, brushed myself off, and kept going,” Larsen recalls. That perseverance became particularly important because Larsen said she initially lacked the support system she has today. Some people didn't expect her to succeed.
Her response? “You’re telling me no, watch me.”
Today, the situation is dramatically different. Through her company, WIT and other industry organizations, Larsen has developed a network of people she can turn to for advice without worrying about being judged for asking questions.
Wolff found a place in the trucking industry by following her own career transition. With a background in the military and law enforcement, she needed to return to the workforce after her husband retired from the military. Trucking provided an opportunity that fit her circumstances, and she discovered something she hadn't anticipated.
“I didn't realize just how much I would actually love this job,” she says.
The career also filled something deeper. Wolff described the loss of fulfillment and purpose that some veterans experience transitioning from military to civilian life: “For me, I found that in trucking.”
Cardoso grew up around trucks and heavy equipment in a California farming community. Her father had driven a truck, but becoming a professional driver wasn't presented to her as a natural career option for a woman. She instead entered the medical field.
After losing her job during the 2008 economic downturn, she remembered something her late mother had once suggested: Why not become a truck driver? She enrolled in truck driving school in 2010.
“It was one of the scariest things I ever did,” she recalls. “And I never looked back.”
Discovering You're Not Alone
Cardoso remembers another surprise from those early days: the isolation.
“I didn't realize that I was going to be the only woman in thousands of men,” she says. “And that was challenging for me because I felt alone.” But she persevered and has since watched more women enter and become visible throughout the industry. That progress has given her even greater motivation to encourage others.
“We need more women in this industry,” she reiterates.
All three women emphasized how important community becomes on the road.
Wolff brought the brother-and-sisterhood mentality of the military into trucking. As a road team captain, she embraces the motto: “drivers helping drivers.”
“We’re the only ones out here that can take care of each other,” Wolff says. “We always have to look out for one another.”
The truck driver community may look different than it did when drivers relied heavily on CB radios years ago, but these women say it still exists through companies, organizations, social media and sometimes simply approaching another woman at a truck stop.
As Larsen puts it, a truck driver may feel alone at first, “but she’s just got to realize she’s not.”
Trucking Isn't Just One Kind of Job
Another misconception these drivers are eager to challenge is that becoming a professional driver necessarily means spending weeks away from home.
Cardoso initially assumed trucking opportunities meant only being an over-the-road driver traveling across the country. She soon discovered local and regional opportunities, including agricultural drivers in California who haul tomatoes, garlic and other commodities and return home daily.
“There’s a lot of opportunity,” she explains. “You can always start somewhere and it can evolve into anything you want it to be.”
Larsen encourages prospective drivers who are contemplating a career as a professional truck driver to first think about the life and career they want. Do they want to be over-the-road? Do they want to be regional drivers and home every night? Then research companies accordingly.
Wolff gives students similar advice when visiting truck driving schools: What are your goals, and how can that institution help you achieve them?
Earning a CDL doesn't have to represent the end of professional development. Larsen is continuing her education through an online program and encourages other drivers to investigate tuition assistance, reimbursement and other professional-development benefits.
“Just because you drive a truck doesn't mean you have to stop learning,” she says. “Keep growing.”
Finding Purpose Beyond the Driver's Seat
For all three women, trucking has evolved into something larger than moving freight.
Larsen now trains aspiring drivers and finds fulfillment in helping students become safer and more confident. Cardoso mentors new women drivers at her Walmart Distribution Center (DC), represents WIT as a WITney® Ambassador, and visits schools and career expos to introduce others to opportunities in trucking.
Wolff drives Werner's Truckers Against Trafficking truck and uses her time on the road to raise awareness about the issue of human trafficking. She also works with military hiring events and helps veterans understand how trucking can provide a pathway into civilian life.
“We are the eyes and ears out here on the road,” Wolff says of drivers' potential role in identifying human trafficking: “See something, say something.”
Cardoso sees education about highway safety as part of her responsibility as well. She wants motorists to understand why trucks behave differently in traffic—from merging decisions to maintaining safe distances—and how understanding those differences can make the highway safer for everyone.
“Just Do It”
Asked what they would tell women considering a career as a professional truck driver, their advice was strikingly consistent: Don’t hesitate to take the first step.
“Take a chance,” Larsen says. “You don't know what you can do until you try.”
Cardoso's approach is equally personal: Here's my card. Call me. What do you need?
Wolff starts with a question: “What's holding you back?”
If a career path as a professional truck driver isn't the right fit, Wolff reminds women that trucking is much bigger than behind the wheel, with careers throughout Operations, Safety, Dispatch, Training, and countless other functions.
This willingness to help others is precisely what these women hope to bring to WIT's Image Team.
Cardoso describes her goal as a WIT Image Team member as being a “steward of kindness” who creates a feeling of belonging. Wolff has adopted her own motto: “Chasing miles with smiles.” And Larsen wants women to know that when they need support, someone in the industry is willing to listen.
Perhaps Wolff provided the simplest advice for any woman standing on the sidelines wondering whether she belongs in trucking: “If you're thinking about trucking, just do it. Don't second guess yourself. Just do it.”
View Webinar: Driven to Make a Difference – Meet the 2026 WIT Image Team
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- Meet Jodi Edwards: A 2-Million Safe Miles Driver with a Million-Dollar Smile
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