The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has released new research identifying several approaches fleets and driving schools can employ to attract women truck drivers while highlighting challenges women truck drivers face on the job.
ATRI, which CTA is a member of, identified the research as a top priority to help further understand the challenges women drivers encounter and develop strategies the industry can implement to increase the number of women in trucking.
“ATRI’s research gives a voice to the thousands of women truck drivers who have found successful and satisfying careers in this industry and encouragement to other women to consider truck driving jobs,” said Emily Plummer, professional driver for Prime Inc. and one of the America’s Road Team Captains.
The research found that women are drawn to driving careers for the income potential, highlighting the fact that pay parity for women and men is much more prevalent in the trucking industry than in other fields.
The analysis found that carriers that implement women-specific recruiting and retention initiatives have a higher percentage of women drivers (8.1%) than those without (5.0%).
The study found that there core challenges that act as barriers for attracting more women drivers to the trucking industry, including industry perception, training, company culture, lifestyle, limited restroom and rest area facilities
To help counter these problems, ARTI made the following suggestions for fleets looking bolster recruitment of female drivers. These include:
- Highlighting the income potential and existing pay parity in trucking
- Focusing on women drivers in marketing materials
- Educating family and friends on trucking opportunities
- Staying professional and maintain a positive outlook
Additionally, ATRI suggests fleets could do more to connect with high school students; identify and plan for generational differences, and emphasize trucking as a lucrative alternative to college.
The full report, can be accessed here.