Alicia Woodford Brings Safety and Small-Business Skills to Owner-Operator Work

Alicia Woodford’s work as an owner-operator draws on two kinds of experience: a lifelong interest in driving and a career spent helping people. Now with Alden Logistics, Inc., Evans’ asset-based transportation business unit, she brings more than three decades behind the wheel and five years as a commercial driver’s license holder to freight work. Her approach puts equipment care, safety and customer service alongside the job of making deliveries.

Woodford grew up in Georgia and was drawn to vehicles well before she became a professional driver. Motorcycles, manual-transmission cars and commercial trucks have all held her interest. Driving, she says through the course of her career, has remained a constant even when her paid work took a different direction.

A career that returned to driving

Before joining Alden, Woodford spent many years at Henry Ford. She started as a Patient Advocate and later became a Division Secretary for Supportive Oncology. Moving back into driving when the opportunity arose felt like a natural fit: it brought her back to an activity she had enjoyed for years while giving her a new business to build.

The change also meant taking on responsibilities beyond operating a truck. Woodford set out to learn how to open her own business. She gave herself a few days to understand the steps, then worked through them independently. Building the business from the ground up remains one of her proudest accomplishments.

That experience points to a practical part of owner-operator work: driving is only one piece of running an independent operation. The owner has to learn the business tasks around the miles, too. Woodford’s account is specific about how she handled that learning curve: she made time to figure out what was required, then got started rather than letting the unfamiliar process stop her.

Equipment care is part of the job

Woodford takes pride in keeping her truck in good condition and staying ahead of routine maintenance. Her regular checks include tires, oil and brakes, and she keeps the truck washed. That attention to upkeep is part of how she defines successful driving, alongside delivering freight and serving customers.

For owner-operators, a truck is both working equipment and a central part of the business. Woodford’s routine reflects the steady attention that vehicle upkeep requires: checking key components and addressing maintenance as part of regular work. She connects that care to safety and professionalism, rather than treating it as a separate chore.

Her approach also carries into customer-facing work. Woodford is outgoing and looks for ways to help people around her. She opens doors for fellow drivers and directs customers. Those small interactions are part of the service she brings to the job, where dependable freight movement depends on communication and consideration as well as driving skill.

Driving runs through the family

Woodford has built her life in Michigan, where family is a priority. She is a mother of two and grandmother of three. Driving has become a family connection: her son is a truck driver based in Georgia, and her daughter is pursuing a Commercial Driver’s License in Michigan.

Her daughter’s training gives Woodford a close view of another family member preparing to enter the industry. Woodford hopes more women will consider driving, especially those who might feel outnumbered in a workplace where women have traditionally been less represented. Her advice is direct: “Go for it!” She says women are entering the field in greater numbers and encourages newcomers not to be intimidated by being the only woman in the room.

That message is grounded in her own path across different kinds of work. Woodford moved from healthcare into owner-operator trucking, learned how to establish her business and returned to the work she had long enjoyed. She urges women considering the field to take the step, even if the setting feels unfamiliar at first.

Hands-on interests beyond the cab

On days off, Woodford stays busy with projects that involve working with her hands. She builds furniture and takes on home improvements. She also works on her 2014 navy blue Volkswagen Beetle, a manual-transmission car she has owned for nearly 15 years. Those interests echo the mechanical curiosity that first drew her to vehicles.

Looking ahead, Woodford hopes to settle into a minimalist lifestyle in the South. Her plans include solar power for her home, collecting rainwater and keeping expenses low. She sees a simpler setup as a way to reconnect with her roots and have more freedom to explore new places.

For now, her work remains focused on each mile: maintaining her equipment, delivering freight and helping the people she encounters along the way. Woodford’s experience shows the range of skills an owner-operator brings to transportation, from business initiative and preventive care to customer service. She carries her long-standing enthusiasm for driving into a role built around both independence and responsibility.

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