The story of Clare, the truck driver doll, a series of coincidences

Ellen Voie

Ellen Voie (Voy-a) is an internationally recognized speaker and authority on gender diversity and inclusion for women working in non-traditional careers in transportation. She has been invited to speak to audiences in Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, France, Mexico, and Canada, in addition to being a popular speaker at conferences throughout the United States. Voie founded the Women In Trucking Association in 2007, and currently serves as the nonprofit organization’s President & CEO. The Women In Trucking Association was formed to promote the employment of women in the trucking industry, to remove obstacles that might keep them from succeeding, and to celebrate the successes of its members. Voie also currently serves on the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee (MCSAC) to provide recommendations and advice to the FMCSA on motor carrier safety programs and motor carrier safety regulations. Voie’s background in the trucking industry began as the assistant and later Traffic Manager for a steel fabricating plant in the upper Midwest. She then worked as a dispatcher for a grain hauling carrier before becoming co-owner of a small fleet. After starting a family, she used her background to become a freelance transportation consultant to carriers in Wisconsin, licensing and permitting trucks for more than 16 years. Voie also served as the Executive Director of Trucker Buddy International, Inc., a pen pal program between professional drivers and elementary students. Voie holds a Master’s in Communication degree from the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, where she completed her Thesis research on the complex identities of women married to professional drivers. She also hold a degree in Traffic and Transportation Management from LaSalle Extension University. Voie has earned the Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential from the American Society of Association Executives, the leading authority in association management.

Columnists,Ellen Voie |

May 1, 2023

The original goal was to start the series with a truck driver doll and then expand to other occupations and to include more ethnicities. A Hispanic diesel technician and an African American safety director were on the list.

However, the doll began and ended with Clare, as the minimum order of 3,000 took years to sell and the warehousing and shipping became costly. I stored the pallets of dolls in my shed and as they shipped out, I put the UPS label on them and sent them on their way.

This is where the story ends with one more coincidence. My UPS driver has been picking up cases of dolls for the past few years. He knew what was in the boxes, but he didn’t know the story of Clare.

As we were shipping out the last few cases, it occurred to me to show him the doll. I asked him if he had a granddaughter. He smiled and told me his daughter had recently had a baby girl, his first grandchild. I handed him a box and told him to give the doll to his new granddaughter.

When he saw the doll, he abruptly stopped as he read the name on the box. I was truly shocked at this coincidence. He told me his new granddaughter’s name is….. Clare. Yes, even the spelling was the same.

My UPS driver gave his new grandbaby her very first doll, one that shares her name! Maybe it’s a sign and she’ll be a truck driver some day! It might be one more coincidence.