IVECO celebrates the role of women in the transport industry

Monday 8th March 2021

Women at work, in their daily lives. Unstoppable women working in the truck industry with passion and determination, breaking gender stereotypes every day and kick-starting change for the younger generations. This is the central theme of the docuvideo that, on International Women's Day, IVECO dedicates to all women who work in the world of transport, celebrating their role and giving a voice to their first-hand experience.

IVECO has teamed up with global communications agency Ogilvy and media company Freeda to tell the stories of three unstoppable women who have built careers in this historically male-dominated industry.

In a docuvideo, the three women – who come from different countries and different backgrounds, but have in common their passion for Trucks – share their dreams, talk about the obstacles and prejudices they have faced, and tell the story of how they have fought with courage for the professional recognition they deserve in their chosen field.

The first testimonial is from Judith Ehrmann, an experienced mechanic for truck racing Team Schwabentruck, which competes in the FIA European Truck Racing Championship. She is responsible for getting lead pilot Steffi Halm’s truck race ready and drives the team’s IVECO S-Way service truck.

She found her passion young, in her family’s business: “My parents have a very small family-run bus company,” Judith explains. “It was always bustling, you got dirty, and it was fun to watch the guys work. That’s how I understood I wanted to be a mechanic, and so I got started.”

The second testimonial is from Lorella Della Torre, who has carved a career as Sales Manager at an Italian IVECO Dealership. In her 30 years covering a variety of roles within its organisation, she has earned the respect of her colleagues and customers. It was not an easy choice: “In the Eighties, when I started working in sales, the role of saleswoman didn’t exist, so I created it. I entered an entirely male environment, where there was no room for me. I had to shoulder my way in.”

The third testimony is from Oti Cabadas, who has confronted traditional prejudices head on to become an experienced truck driver. She has spent years behind the wheel of IVECO Stralis trucks and now drives an IVECO S-WAY on long-haul missions. Life on the road is hard, but Oti loves it: “People see it as just another vehicle, but for us it’s our home. In this job you make many sacrifices, but I find it fulfilling and I get a lot out of it – I don’t wouldn’t give up trucking, however hard it is.”