April 12th, 2011- National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman completed a two-day, four-state journey from Washington, D.C., to Louisville, Ky., in order to get a cab's-eye view of the commercial truck industry.

Chairman Hersman, who holds a commercial driver's license (CDL) traveled  to the Mid-America Truck Show in Louisville where she honored America's professional women truck drivers at the second annual Women in Trucking (WIT) "Salute to Women Behind the Wheel" event. Her journey, beginning at NTSB headquarters in Washington, D.C., involved traveling alongside five different professional "big-rig" drivers.

The ride-along gave Chairman Hersman a close-up view into the daily experiences of professional truck drivers as they navigate the nation's highways and work to share the road safely with the motoring public.

Chairman Hersman left NTSB headquarters the afternoon of March 30 in a 2011 Kenworth T-660 heavy-duty, long-haul tractor trailer driven by Stephanie Klang, a professional driver for Con-way Truckload. Along the route, Chairman Hersman rode with four other professional drivers from WIT member companies, including Schneider, UPS, US Xpress, and Walmart.

"I'm excited to join these drivers for a real-world view of the challenges they face every day on the road," said Chairman Hersman. "The skill and professionalism drivers bring to the job are essential to maintaining the highest level of safety on our nation's highways."

In addition to participating in the "Salute" in Louisville, Chairman Hersman observed a Level 1 roadside inspection at a Maryland weigh station, visited a travel center in West Virginia, meet with West Virginia and Kentucky transportation officials and safety advocates at two separate roundtables, and hosted two listening sessions, one with industry safety officials and one with professional drivers from across the industry.

Media contact:
Bridget Serchak
202-314-6100
Bridget.serchak@ntsb.gov