The Women In Trucking Association and Freightliner Trucks recently announced the six finalists for the 2020 Influential Woman in Trucking award. In its tenth year, the award honors female leaders in the trucking industry, highlighting their achievements.

The 2020 Influential Woman in Trucking award finalists are:

• Crystal Anderson, owner, Donald D. Anderson Jr. Trucking

• Kristy Knichel, CEO, Knichel Logistics

• Katrina Liddell, president of global forwarding and expedite operations in North America, XPO Logistics

• Vana Matte, senior vice president of engineering & technology, J.B. Hunt Transport Services

• Jodie Teuton, vice president, Kenworth of Louisiana/ Hino of Baton Rouge and Monroe

• Michal Yariv, vice president and general manager of strategic initiatives, Omnitracs

Crystal Anderson is the co-owner/partner of Donald D. Anderson Jr. Trucking. She continues to actively work the many roles within her trucking company alongside her husband who also drives for the company. Anderson has over 40 years of experience in the transportation industry. She is the daughter of a truck driver, the wife of a truck driver, the mother of a truck driver, and a driver herself.

Kristy Knichel, a lifelong Pittsburgh native, is a second-generation logistics executive. Since taking over as president of Knichel Logistics in 2007, Knichel has been the driving force behind their yearly growth and reputation as one of the top service providers within the IMC community. As of 2019, Knichel Logistics has grown to $83 million in revenue.

Katrina Liddell is president of the global forwarding and expedite operations of XPO Logistics in North America, and is the first woman president within the North American transportation group. Prior to her current role, she led XPO's sales organization for North American transportation, including the national account management team. Liddell made the transition to the supply chain industry from the industrial technology sector, where she was initially one of the few woman executives with an engineering background.

Vana Matte, senior vice president of engineering & technology at J.B. Hunt, is a global technology and digital transformation executive who leverages business-centric technology leadership to scale growth while safeguarding the business through cybersecurity expertise. Vana is a strategic, innovative leader with over 20 years of experience delivering competitive edge solutions on a global scale.

Jodie Teuton is the co-founder of Kenworth of Louisiana, a heavy-duty truck dealership group representing both Kenworth and Hino truck brands with seven Louisiana locations. Before devoting her professional career to the retail auto and truck business in 1997, she practiced law locally in South Louisiana. Teuton is a native of Terrebonne Parish where she currently lives with her husband and business partner, Scott Oliphant. She is also “Wonder Woman” to their daughter, Victoria, a Junior at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi.

Michal Yariv serves as vice president and general manager of strategic initiatives for Omnitracs. In this role, Yariv focuses on the development and implementation of value-added services and applications that can be deployed on top of the core Omnitracs products. Her teams utilize Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and data capabilities to explore new avenues that continue to drive efficiency for Omnitracs customers in addition to top-line revenue growth.

All six finalists will participate on a panel at the WIT Accelerate! Conference & Expo held virtually, November 12-13, 2020. The winner will be announced after the panel discussion, “How Remarkable Women Unleash their Leadership Potential” on Friday, Nov. 13 at 9:15am CST.