Stephanie Siegel rises from data entry to trucking safety leader

Stephanie Siegel, director of safety at Pemberton Truck Lines and Specialty Transport, built a 12-year transportation career from an entry-level role into executive leadership. Her path highlights how safety, mentorship, and retention are shaping trucking operations in Knoxville and beyond.

Why it matters: - Stephanie Siegel’s career shows how trucking companies can develop leaders from within, not just hire them from outside. - Her role spans safety, compliance, recruiting, retention, and onboarding, making her work central to both fleet performance and driver support. - Her experience reflects two of trucking’s biggest pressures: keeping roads safe and keeping qualified drivers.

What happened: - Stephanie Siegel is director of safety at Pemberton Truck Lines in Knoxville, Tennessee. - She oversees safety operations for Pemberton Truck Lines’ dry van fleet and Specialty Transport’s hazmat fleet. - Her responsibilities include accident investigations, driver coaching, regulatory compliance, recruiting, retention, and onboarding. - She also helps implement the Entrepreneurial Operating System, or EOS, to improve organizational performance and support growth. - Influential Women highlighted Siegel’s career and leadership path on Oct. 14, 2026. - A profile link is available through Stephanie Siegel’s Influential Women profile.

The details: - Siegel has 12 years of transportation experience and is described as a respected voice on safety and leadership. - Her career began at Skyline Transportation in a data entry role. - She moved up through administrative assistant, compliance manager, and safety director positions before joining Pemberton Truck Lines. - She earned Certified Director of Safety and Certified Safety Compliance Manager credentials through the North American Transportation Management Institute. - She completed the Vistage Emerging Leader Program and is enrolled in Crestcom’s leadership program. - Siegel has also taught CDL permit classes. - She spent nearly five years at Chick-fil-A before entering transportation. - That earlier experience shaped her focus on customer service, leadership, and work ethic. - Mentors including Jeff Reed, Rocky Summers, and John Pemberton influenced her leadership style. - Siegel founded and chaired the East Tennessee Young Professionals Council. - She is active with the Tennessee Trucking Association, the American Trucking Associations, the Young Professionals Council, and Women in Trucking.

Between the lines: - Siegel’s story reflects a broader industry need for employee development as trucking faces persistent recruiting and retention challenges. - Her emphasis on mentorship suggests carriers may gain an edge by investing in training, culture, and internal advancement. - Her focus on listening, perspective, and humility points to a leadership model built around trust rather than hierarchy. - The company’s alignment with integrity, compassion, innovation, and enrichment reinforces a culture message as much as an operations strategy.

What's next: - Siegel said she will keep mentoring her safety team and helping develop future leaders. - She plans to continue strengthening safety, retention, and company processes at Pemberton Truck Lines and Specialty Transport. - She sees continued growth as tied to taking chances, learning constantly, and adapting as the industry changes.

The bottom line: - Stephanie Siegel’s rise from data entry to safety director underscores how trucking careers can grow through persistence, credentials, and leadership development.