Leading the Charge: Women, Freight Innovation, and the Future of Trucking 

By Taryn Daker, Senior Director of Customer Success, Truckstop

At the recent Mid-America Trucking Show (MATS), I had the honor of joining an incredible panel of female leaders in freight and logistics to talk about how we as an industry can move freight smarter, safer, and more inclusively over the next 30 years.

The conversation spanned everything from mentorship and modernization to fraud prevention and leadership. Here are key takeaways and perspectives I shared on behalf of Truckstop, a company built over three decades to serve the evolving needs of carriers.

Answering the call to action on the driver shortage

There’s no doubt the industry needs new drivers, and we need them to stay. That starts with building better systems of support, especially for women and underrepresented groups.

From Truckstop’s perspective, freight matching platforms can play a bigger role than many might expect. It’s not just about connecting drivers to freight, it’s about connecting people to opportunity.

We see mentorship and education as critical. Through community engagement and partnerships, we encourage more women to get involved in freight, not just behind the wheel, but in operations, dispatch, and logistics strategy. Women entering this space need to see leaders who look like them. That visibility builds confidence, and confidence builds careers.

Paving the way for the next generation

The perception of trucking is changing. It’s no longer just about the rig – it’s about data, technology, and innovation. At Truckstop, we want to show younger generations that freight is a modern, fast-evolving industry with exciting career opportunities.

To do that, we need to:

• Educate: Engage schools, trade programs, and workforce development initiatives to show the wide variety of careers in freight.
• Create safe, inclusive workplaces: That means everything from implementing anti-harassment policies to promoting women into leadership roles.
• Modernize the brand of trucking: Technology-driven logistics is the future, and women belong in every seat at that table.

Technology is transforming the freight industry

Fraud, safety, and efficiency are top-of-mind for everyone. At Truckstop, we invest in technology that directly addresses these challenges. That includes:

• AI and digital verification tools like Identity Verification (IDV), which we were the first to bring to market, to stop bad actors before they gain access.
• Real-time fraud signals from our Risk Factors tool, which synthesizes data from our proprietary network to give brokers and carriers a clearer picture of risk.
• Multi-factor authentication, now standard across our platform, which continues to protect our users from impersonation.

Human relationships have always been the heart and soul of the freight industry. Given how fast things move, it’s important to have the right technology to make building those relationships safer, more efficient, and more productive.

How carriers can stay competitive

Our tools were built with carriers in mind. From small owner-operators to large fleets, Truckstop’s goal is to level the playing field with:

• Tools like our new Authority Filter, which shows new carriers which brokers will work with them.
• Facial recognition and biometrics to protect login integrity.
• AI-powered risk signals that help brokers avoid unsafe or fraudulent carriers.

Our advice to carriers: Don’t fear the tech! Embrace it, embed it, and let it do the heavy lifting so you can focus on growing your business.

The future of freight is human and digital

Looking ahead, AI, automation, and cybersecurity will all play major roles in shaping a faster, more secure supply chain. But the real magic happens when you combine emerging tech with good, human business practices.

At Truckstop, we’re helping brokers and carriers prepare by:

• Creating standardized, intuitive tools.
• Offering onboarding and training support.
• Encouraging smarter decision-making with better data.

If you’re not already leveraging tools like real-time rate data, automated vetting, or fraud detection, you’re leaving time and money on the table.

What leadership looks like

Leadership, especially in trucking, means building environments where everyone can thrive. For me, that means:

• Empathy: Listening to the real pain points of our customers and drivers.
• Transparency: Owning mistakes, sharing wins, and building trust through honesty.
• Mentorship: Empowering others to rise, just like those who helped me.
• Inclusion: Actively creating space for those important voices that tend to get overlooked.

Being a woman in this space comes with challenges, but also great opportunities. The more of us who step up, speak out, and build things that matter, the better the future of freight will be.

We at Truckstop are committed to leading that future – with technology, with empathy, and with people like you. If you’re looking to stay ahead of what’s next in freight, let’s talk.

Want to learn more about how Truckstop is fighting fraud? Visit our Freight Fraud Prevention Hub.