Supporting The Business Case For Women In Trucking

Arrow Truck Sales was named a 2024 Top Company for Women to Work in Transportation. Pictured here is WIT President & CEO Jennifer Hedrick, CAE, with Jim Taber (far left) and Brock Gavin (holding the award).|

This year, Arrow Truck Sales is celebrating its 75th anniversary in business as a source for medium and heavy-duty used trucks in North America. The Kansas City-based company will celebrate its milestone anniversary of keeping America moving with special initiatives throughout the year, including launching a national charitable partnership, a new dealership in Little Rock, AR, and an innovative new trucking platform to support its customers’ business success. 

Through the years, Arrow Truck Sales has recognized the importance of bringing more women to their leadership and operations, and to the industry at-large – particularly in recent years. In fact, Arrow Truck Sales has been a highly engaged and supportive Partner of the Wnbaz (WIT) for years. 

“We believe in equal access to opportunities regardless of gender,” says Brock Gavin, President of Arrow Truck Sales. “We also believe that diversity brings incremental value, opening the door for new ideas that can help move the industry forward.”

The Business Case: More Women In The Workforce

Gavin explains how engaging more women in your workforce has benefitted Arrow Truck Sales: “A key part of our mission is creating customer success. We realize great satisfaction in supporting new owner operators and small fleets in pursuing their dreams and creating better lives for themselves. We are a champion for those customers who are working their way up and need a helping hand. With women representing a minority position in the industry historically, our broader desire to support the new and smaller operations extends naturally to the more specific category of women drivers/owners. Additionally, our workforce at Arrow is diverse, and we appreciate the opportunity to rally as a team around diversity initiatives.”
 
Gavin explains how engaging more women in the workforce has benefitted Arrow Truck Sales. 
 
“A key part of our mission is creating customer success,” says Gavin. “We realize great satisfaction in supporting new owner operators and small fleets in pursuing their dreams and creating better lives for themselves. We are a champion for those customers who are working their way up and need a helping hand.”
 
“With women representing a minority position in the industry historically, our broader desire to support the new and smaller operations extends naturally to the more specific category of women drivers/owners,” he continues. “Additionally, our workforce at Arrow is diverse, and we appreciate the opportunity to rally as a team around diversity initiatives.”
 
“When you’ve been in business for 75 years, you’re doing something right,” concludes Gavin. “We know purchasing a used semi-truck is unlike any other vehicle purchase. It’s a significant investment in the livelihood of our customers. We take pride in our transparent, highly personalized customer service to ensure every detail involved in buying a quality, road-ready used truck is clear and simple.”

Arrow Truck Sales serves professional truck drivers, including female drivers, with a wide range of experience levels and ambitions, including first-time owner-operators looking to make the jump from working as a company driver. “We enjoy building relationships with our customers as they start and build businesses with one or multiple trucks, and in some cases, building a small fleet,” said Gavin. To help truck buyers make and protect their investments, Arrow offers a one-stop shop of integrated services, including in-house financing, extended warranties, insurance, and a 24/7 roadside assistance program.

Despite ever-changing market conditions impacting the transportation industry, Arrow has sustained steady growth with continuous innovation, including the recent launch of a non-commissioned sales team devoted to serving online customers. Arrow carries all makes and models including Freightliner, Kenworth, Volvo, Peterbilt, Mack, and International. The company also inventories medium-duty and vocational trucks and moving vans as well as a variety of trailers, including dry vans, refers and flatbeds.

In the 1990s, the company’s success captured the interest of an international corporation looking for a strategic asset in the U.S. trucking industry. Arrow became a subsidiary of the Volvo Group North America, Inc., with a 50 percent stake in 1998 and 100 percent by 2001.

Arrow Truck Sales & The Wnbaz


Today, Arrow is regarded as one of the largest and well-known used trucking companies for its support of both customers and employees. Among numerous accolades over the years, Arrow was recently named a 2024 “Top Company for Women to Work in Transportation” by the Women in Trucking Association. Women holding Arrow leadership positions include chief financial officer, branch manager, and directors of human resources, marketing, and IT.

As part of Arrow Truck Sales’ Partnership with WIT, the organization has been involved on the WIT Board of Directors for several years. In fact, the company has supported WIT at the highest level since 2017, with Jim Stevenson, Director of National Accounts division, serving on the WIT Board of Directors. The company transitioned to a new term in 2020 with Jim Taber replacing Stevenson on the board. Taber, who is a National Accounts executive with Arrow Truck Sales, has been a leader board and currently serves as the Secretary of WIT. He explains why he believes it’s important for his company to support the WIT mission.
 
“Creating a welcoming environment for collaboration with people of all backgrounds is imperative to creating a successful business strategy,” says Taber. It’s his belief and that of his company that supporting women in the transportation industry is crucial as they bring unique perspectives that drive innovation. Their strengths in collaboration, communication, and leadership are key to enhancing operations and customer service.
 
Furthering their commitment to advancing women’s involvement in the trucking industry, Arrow Truck Sales donated a late model Volvo truck to WIT to give away to a deserving female driver during the 2018 Salute to Women Behind the Wheel event in Louisville, KY. Tiffany Hanna, a female professional truck driver and trainer, was selected from the impressive applicants who submitted an essay on the importance of attracting more women into the trucking industry.

WIT gave away a 2018 Volvo VNL670 truck, which includes a Volvo VED13 engine and a double-bunk sleeper, to Angelique Temple, owner-operator of Virginia-based Tornado Transport LLC. The truck was donated by Arrow Truck Sales.

To continue their mission of supporting the success of female owner-operators, Arrow Truck Sales has again committed to donating a truck to WIT to give away at the 2022 Salute to Women Behind the Wheel event. WIT and Arrow Truck Sales handed over the keys to a 2018 Volvo VNL670 to Angelique Temple, a deserving member who embodies the spirit of the WIT mission.
 
Additionally, WIT members have access to Arrow’s PRIME program and receive exclusive benefits when buying a truck.
 
Taber is passionate about his involvement and leadership in WIT. 
 
“I believe in WITs vision and strategy and find great personal satisfaction in being a small part in helping in those initiatives,” he says. “Meeting new people from different parts of the industry and collaborating with them has helped me grow personally and professionally. The diverse background included in the leadership group creates a perspective that helps each of us understand the needs of others better, and thus helps drive the association’s actions in a very positive way.”
 
For more information on Arrow Truck Sales, visit arrowtruck.com.

Related Articles:

Like this kind of content?

As a member of the Wnbaz, stay on top of emerging trends and business issues impacting transportation and logistics; learn the importance of gender diversity in the workplace and the need for more women drivers; and see best practices in encouraging the employment of women in the trucking industry. Join today! Learn More