If you ask a dozen truck drivers what they like most about their job, it’s very likely you’ll get a dozen different answers with responses ranging from pay to equipment, schedules and routes, home time, insurance benefits and more.
For Mavel, who drives for NFI’s Allentown, Pennsylvania, location, the answer is family — both her own family and the extended family she’s discovered at NFI.
“I love driving (for NFI),” she said. “The most amazing thing is to (be able to) go home every day. That’s what I like most; I start very early in the morning so I can have time with my family.”
As the mother of a 10-year-old daughter and an 18-year-old son, having a regular but flexible schedule and daily home time is top priority.
“I wake up at 3 a.m. so I can be at the terminal at 4 a.m.,” she said, adding that she is always guaranteed a couple of loads for each day, and she’s able to be home to help her daughter with homework by 3 or 4 p.m. “I have a chance to make dinner, go out, exercise and do shopping.”
Mavel says she likes her Sunday-to-Thursday work schedule and the flexibility it allows.
“If I want to work an extra day on Friday, I can,” she said. “I have Saturday off so I can spend time with my family. I also do other things, like study.”
In addition to providing for her children, Mavel cares for her father, who has dementia. She recalls one very frightening day when she was scheduled to work.
“My father got lost, and I didn’t want to take the day off (because of responsibilities),” she said. She went to work, but her mind remained on her father and where he might be.
“My boss called me and said, ‘Maybe you shouldn’t be here. You should be looking for your father,’” she said, adding that her employer wanted to ensure her safety as well as the safety of others on the road — and the safety of her family.
Renee, Mavel’s manager and a SheDrives ambassador, says her team is like a family — and family takes care of family.
“I remember that day with your dad,” she said. “I was like, ‘Mavel, what are you doing here?’”
Mavel has never forgotten the support she received that day.
“If you have a situation, they always work it out for you,” she said. “That makes us stay here and do our best (for NFI).”
That feeling of family is embedded in every layer of NFI.
Israel Brown immigrated to America at age 18, served in the U.S. Army during World War I and operated a construction company during the Great Depression. In 1932, wanting a better life for himself and his family, Brown started National Hauling — now NFI — with just a single truck.
After decades of change and growth, the company, now led by a third generation of the Brown family, employs more than 18,000 people and operates more than 5,000 tractors and 14,000 trailers.
In truth, NFI could be considered a megacarrier — but those family values upon which the company was founded remain the same.
“It’s like a great big family. Everyone matters here,” Renee said. “You’re not just a number. That’s something I learned: We’re people, and we have families. We want to go home to them.”
NFI embraces diversity through employee initiatives like SheDrives.
While women remain a minority in the trucking industry, NFI is working to change that, with women bringing their skills and expertise to every level, from the driver’s seat to the C-suite, as the saying goes.
“I think this is the first company I’ve seen hiring women,” Mavel said. “You don’t see a lot of women in other (trucking) companies. They’re giving us a lot of opportunities.”
For more information about NFI’s SheDrives initiative, click here.
Linda Garner-Bunch has been with The Trucker since 2020, picking up the reins as managing editor in 2022. Linda has nearly 40 years of experience in the publishing industry, covering topics from the trucking and automotive industry to employment, real estate, home decor, crafts, cooking, weddings, high school sports — you name it, she’s written about it. She is also an experienced photographer, designer and copy editor who has a heartfelt love for the trucking industry, from the driver’s seat to the C-suite.
