Why Aren't Drives in Charge?
Women in Trucking nominated six outstanding women as finalists for their award for the most influential woman in trucking. All six women are both outstanding and influential. I did a little research and found no evidence that any of these women ever drove a truck for a living. I don't hold that against any of these outstanding women. Women in trucking did nothing wrong here. They did what they intended to do. Sadly, the nominations reflect the industry as a whole. We don't have enough drivers, men or women, in positions of influence.
Why don't we have enough drivers in position of influence? It takes a different set of skills to drive a truck than succeed in a position of influence. Many of the smartest drivers have no desire to be put in positions of 
influence. They don't desire to be people of influence. They are drivers. They like driving more than they like dealing with people. It is also an issue of wages. For many, the first jump from the driver's seat into the corporate world pays less. The best drivers might get put into a dispatch role. The best driver does not necessarily make a good dispatcher.
When was the last time, that you remember a superstar athlete becoming an outstanding coach or manager? Keep Thinking, I am having trouble with that one too. The best coaches and managers are usually modestly talented role players. Maybe the same holds true in trucking. The best athletes have trouble dealing with the average ones. Outstanding truckers may have trouble dealing with average drivers.
Most drivers either are not capable or have no desire to be in positions of influence. Most CEOs either are not capable of, or have no desire to become drivers. Each group has a set of people. They each form a separate set. The two sets are mostly separate and distinct from each other. Think of the CEO group as set A. The drivers are set B. Think of them as separate circles. These circles are not mutually exclusive. There is a union of the two circles. That union represents the C group. The people in that set can function as either execs or drivers. We have to find the drivers in that set.
They can't go directly from the driver seat to the corner office. It is not just changing your shoes.They need to be trained. The trucking industry must do what it seems incapable of doing. We need to think long term. Trucking companies and government both have to start investing in identifying and training these drivers for 
positions of leadership.
The FMCSA should start immediately recruiting drivers as managers in training. Large companies should do the same. Trucking media should not exempt themselves. Nor should the OEMs. OOIDA should lead by example. We need to quit lying to ourselves. We recruit enough drives. We don't keep them in the industry. Drivers know what it takes to make it through the newbie stage. Our current leadership does not. The industry's poor performance in keeping these drivers reflects that.