What’s your image of a trucker? A burly, tattooed big man driving a tractor-trailer? D
on’t be surprised next time the truck window slides down to reveal a woman behind the wheels. Trucking companies, shippers and freight haulers are all betting their money on women these days, and with good reason. A small trivia to intrigue you at this point – The American Trucking Association revealed that last year, females accounted for nearly 6% of US truckers – up from 4.6% in 2010.
What’s the reason behind such a change?
Reason 1: A previously ignored labor pool, women have up to the view of trucking drivers as the perfect tool to ease the growing shortage of drivers in US. Bloomberg has reported the shortfall could easily cross the boundaries of 400,000 next year – and the best way to fill that gap is recruit women drivers.
Reason 2: Another reason for hiring women drivers is that they are proving their mettle behind the wheels better than men. According to the COO of Werner Enterprises, when it comes to compliance issues, accident prevention and inspections, women drivers are much better off. His transportation company targets to have more than 10% of women drivers by the end of the year.
To produce and implement women driver hiring and retention, the industry has been making terminals cleaner, truck stops safer, more automatic transmissions in the vehicles as well as providing schedules that make it easier for women to maintain their work-life balance. Other than an upsurge in women drivers’ application due to these reasons, it is also helping in their retention.
The Case of Ryder Dedicated, the Logistics Outsourcing Wing of Ryder System Inc.
Ryder Dedicated, from the start, has been partnering with Women in Trucking, a nonprofit advocacy group to guide cab manufacturers to make trucks more adaptable by women. That would mean making seats and pedals more adjustable for the sake of short drivers, lower steps to access freight and cabs, and automatic transmissions which are less fatiguing. These adjustments are not only meant to benefit women, but also seniors averaging 55, says US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Other than these, stricter security measures are not only for women but also for all long-haul truckers, as they all are vulnerable to theft/violence as they sleep in their trucks. Companies such as Volvo are manufacturing trucks with alarm systems to detect intruders while the cab is stationed. The companies are also looking into other solutions such as making safety builds especially for women, as they can’t obviously use the ones generally used, due to basic physical reasons.
When situations are such, it is imperative for your trucking organization to learn some of the best ways in which you can attract, retain and recruit female truckers in your organization. Expert speaker Ellen Voie, Founder of Women in Trucking Association, will be speaking in a webinar, ‘How to Effectively Recruit and Retain Female Drivers’ on Thursday, February 4, 2016. You will know what women look for in recruitment ads and what attracts them to the career, of other ways to hire and retain female truckers.
