This March, Engineering and Strategic Analytics Manager Heather McAfee and Director of Revenue Management Sarmona Miller were named to Redefining the Road magazine’s list of 2024 “Top Woman to Watch in Transportation.”

Every year, Redefining the Road, Women In Trucking Association's official magazine, recognizes top performers in the transportation industry who have achieved a significant career accomplishment in the past 12 to 18 months and who have also gone the extra mile to support other women and improve gender diversity within their own companies or the industry.

“Heather has spent her career working to help Saia grow,” said Executive Vice President of Operations Patrick Sugar. He explained that McAfee began her career as a sales lead analyst, providing visibility for the company’s sales force, helping lead our growth initiatives and providing insights using her applied mathematics degree.

“Heather later transitioned to our industrial engineering team after earning her master’s degree, where she has used her skillset to improve processes for our teams in the field, making their tasks less manual and more impactful,” Sugar said.

Miller began her career at the company as a night biller, as she worked her way through college. She grew professionally, next becoming a coordinator, then a credit and traffic manager, before being promoted to her current role as a director.

“Sarmona has been an invaluable team member at Saia for more than 20 years and has seen, and led through, a great deal of change in our industry and the company,” said Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer Kelly Benton. For instance, Benton described how Miller implemented innovative strategies, utilized technology in creative ways, and designed industry-specific processes to support the company’s billing and rating initiatives, which have historically been very manual.

“Both Heather and Sarmona go above and beyond to mentor and inspire women at Saia. They have shown such a willingness to share their knowledge and experiences to help other women navigate their professional journeys and achieve their goals,” stated Benton. “We are so proud that Women In Trucking chose to recognize them.”

WIT first developed the “Top Woman to Watch in Transportation” recognition program in 2018 to support its mission to promote the accomplishments of women in the transportation industry. This year, 75 women were named to the list. They work for a broad range of companies including motor carriers, third-party logistics companies, equipment manufacturers, retailer truck dealers, and more.