All-Female Driving Team Leads the Way
Three Clayton Connect North Carolina team members recently became NC’s first all-female driving team to transport a home from a Clayton home building facility. The trio’s story is an example of the many important roles of women in Clayton Home Building Group® and a perfect way to celebrate Women in Construction week.
Clayton Connect
Clayton Connect is Clayton Home Building Group’s transportation company. Its purpose is to deliver homes safely from Clayton home building facilities to retail partners across the country. In 2023 alone, Connect drivers traveled a combined 12,500,000 miles to deliver nearly 50,000 homes.
Clayton Connect Driving Teams
A Connect NC driving team typically consists of three team members: two pilot truck drivers and one toter truck driver. The pilot trucks escort the toter vehicle transporting the home from the home building facility to a retail center or home site, monitoring its safety and alerting other motorists that a vehicle with an oversize load is nearby. One pilot truck leads the toter vehicle, while the other follows behind.
An Unexpected Announcement
During a routine Monday morning meeting on December 18, 2023, Clayton Connect NC Transportation Division Regional Manager Tyler Lewis made a special announcement that drew celebratory applause. For the first time in Clayton Connect NC history, an all-female team would be transporting a home! Kia Allison and Izabella Brunson were tapped to drive the pilot trucks, while CDL-licensed Sherein Sumrall would drive the toter vehicle to Clayton Homes of Florence, SC.
The Journey
The team drove the nearly 1700 square foot Sunrise home model from Clayton’s new Benchmark series over 100 miles through two states. Transporting such a large home over interstate and local roads is no easy task. For example, it’s common for toter vehicles to get flat tires during a home’s transport. On this trip, the team had to change two tires on the side of a major road and, as they learned in training, they did so in under four minutes!
Woman Power
Kia Allison reflected on the day by saying, “It was an awesome experience to be able to work with this team of women. We handled the job. We worked as a team even with changing two tires at one time. I appreciate the opportunity!”
Tyler Lewis hopes the success of this team affirms that construction and driving aren’t careers solely for men. He shares their story to honor their work as well as to recruit and promote more women in construction. As we celebrate Women in Construction week, we thank Allison, Brunson and Sumrall for their work and for being terrific examples that women have what it takes to excel in this profession.
