In our latest interview, we sat down with Caitlin Barlow, a woman who truly wears many hats. By day, she is the General Manager of Operations at JATEC Transport, a family-owned pallet transportation business. In 2025, Caitlin was welcomed as one of the newest members of the Transport Women Australia Limited (TWAL) board, while also finding time for passion projects that champion diversity, connection and support for women across the transport industry.
We spoke with Caitlin about her journey into freight, what drives and excites her, and where she sees opportunities for women, particularly young women who may not have previously considered a career in transport.
It’s great to spend some time with you today Caitlin. Can you start by telling us a bit about your current role, your organisation and what a typical day might look like?
JATEC Transport is my family’s business. The JATEC actually stands for Jane, Aaron, Troy, Ethan, Caitlin. We do empty pallet transport, which is a very niche part of the industry and supply chain. JATEC is based out of NSW with operations in Brisbane and the view to expand into Victoria later this year. Which is really exciting.
As the General Manager, I oversee all the different parts of JATEC Transport. From operations to marketing and everything in between, my day-to-day never really looks the same. The transport world is volatile, so it really depends on what is happening throughout the week. I guess a general day is coming into the office and making sure everything is running smoothly and that all our drivers and customers are happy.
Were you planning to go into your family business, or was it expected? Because you've had a few jobs at other logistics businesses at the very start of your career.
I definitely didn't plan to join the family business, transport isn’t very glamorous! I expected to be doing something in the corporate world and began my degree studying HR straight out of high school. But I soon realised it wasn’t what I wanted to do. I thought to myself, hang on, I don’t want to pursue a degree I’m not passionate about, and took a break from study to move down to Melbourne.
My first big girl job was working as operations support for a security company in the city, in a nice, big high-rise building. It taught me a lot about operations and it also reignited my love for business and made me want to build something of my own.
But, I thought about my family business because my parents really wanted me to join. So, I returned to Sydney and finished my business studies, pivoted my major to entrepreneurship and went to see where JATEC Transport would take me.
The more I’ve gotten involved with the transport industry, the more I really fell in love with the people. I have always been drawn to supply chain, even throughout my studies and working full-time at BevChain and Metcash. I now see myself staying in transport long-term just because of the people in this industry.
What is it that you love about the people in transport?
The thing I love about people in transport, especially road transport, is that it really does feel like one big family. Statistically speaking, around 98% of Australian road transport is small and family business. That’s something you just don't get in any other industry.
When you're driving along and you see different trucks, you actually know the people behind the brand and behind the wheel, that's something that I think is quite unique with transport.
What are some of the skills that have really helped get you to where you are now?
I think communication is key. Being able to communicate with various people from various backgrounds is super important.
I’ve been fortunate to be a naturally confident person. Throughout my career and working in bigger organisations, I’ve always felt comfortable having conversations at any level, whether that’s chatting with the CEO in the tearoom or reaching out to remote colleagues across a business and finding ways to connect. But what really matters is being able to communicate with people from different backgrounds, cultures, and disciplines so you can genuinely understand one another and problem-solve effectively.
At a place like JATEC, we have a very diverse workforce across cultures and many drivers have English as their second language. It’s so important to be able to communicate clearly, especially on topics like compliance, so that you are confident they understand and can ask questions.
What role or what opportunities do you see for women in this space?
Women have always been in the sector, but they've just been behind the scenes. There has been a shift now where they're coming like to the forefront, which makes me really excited for the future of transport. We’re starting to see women taking up more roles in operations and leadership in road transport.
I’m quite close to the truck driver area of the sector. I got my licence through the Volvo Iron Women Program. It’s specifically designed to provide training to women with no transport experience and help them become job-ready heavy vehicle operators. I was in a cohort of 11 different women from completely different career paths. One was a baker, one worked in a fish and chip shop, and they all decided - I want to be a truck driver.
I believe the current statistic is that less than 5% of Australian truck drivers are women, so there is a huge opportunity for more women to enter this space.
When we had our first female truck driver come on board [at JATEC], we saw a huge spike in productivity because she was smashing jobs out, throwing straps and getting it done. It really drove the rest of the team to get on that level and be motivated to do more.
Another benefit of diversity is having different perspectives. Different people have interesting ways of finding solutions to a problem that others wouldn’t think of. That's the beauty of diversity and that's why I am so passionate about it. I do lots of different passion projects in that space because, I think it's so important.
Tell me about some of your passion projects?
So, I touched on the Volvo Iron Women Program. I was an ambassador for the Australian pilot in 2023, but the program had already been operating in different countries across the globe for years. In places like Peru and Southern Africa, Volvo provides education and training to ongoing cohorts of women so they can contribute to productivity, safety and profitability of the transport industry.
Getting your truck licence in Australia feels like a lengthy process, but the sense of accomplishment after getting your HC is incredible. Have you ever sat behind the wheel of a truck? It’s very empowering. It's scary at the beginning, but you’d be amazed at the confidence it gives you.
Being an ambassador for the Australian Trucking Associations InRoads Program has been a huge career milestone for me. It has enabled me to help an industry that I care so much about, to continue to thrive and grow on their inclusion journey. What started as a very exclusive 2-day course in person, is now an online module-based platform free to industry. I am so proud of the program and the impact it is having on industry with now over 80 companies on board. Anyone can participate, which is really exciting.
You won an Emerging Leaders Award in 2023 and were recently announced as a board member to the Transport Women Australia board. What does that mean for you?
It was really exciting to be given the Emerging Leaders Award from the Road Freight NSW Conference, especially because it was the first of its kind.
I do a lot of volunteer work through Transport Women Australia advocating for the transport industry in schools. I go out to schools and talk about the transport industry. One initiative that I really love is called ‘What’s My Line’ where I go to a primary school, in plain clothes and the kids ask you questions, trying to guess what your profession is. It’s actually really fun. A lot of kids guess that I’m hairdresser or makeup artist, I have even had a neurosurgeon! Then I come out in my pink high vis and safety boots as a truck driver, and they do not see that coming! A lot of the work I put into school engagement is what led to the Emerging Leader Award. And yes, very recently I've been appointed to the Board of Transport Women Australia, which I'm excited about. It’s a really amazing community of women and allies and I value all the connections that I've made there throughout my career. I look forward to being able to give back to that community.
Do you have any other advice or thoughts that you'd want to pass on to women, either in the sector or considering the sector?
Yes, and I had to reflect on this. I’m always a little hesitant to give advice, particularly because I still see myself at the beginning of my own career. The one thing that I always try and live by, is to really stick by each other and empower other women in business and life wherever you get the chance. Success is infinite. To give someone else an opportunity, doesn't take away from you getting other opportunities, and I think that's a really important mindset to have. The more we help each other, the further we all progress.
That’s why I’m excited to be part of Transport Women Australia, because the whole association is about giving opportunities to women in transport. There are lot of different associations too like the Australian Trucking Association, Road Freight Australia NSW, Supply Chain and Logistics Association Australia and ultimately, it’s great that everyone is trying to progress the industry.