Moving Words – Recruiting Women

Timothy Brady

“Being a female trucker means having the courage to break through barriers and blaze new trails” – Kim O’Brien:

American Trucking Associations’ ATRI Research Advisory Committee developed a Top Priority research program in March 2023 to better understand the challenges women truck drivers face. Trucking offers secure incomes, decent benefits, and job variety; however, the small number of women drivers in the industry underlines the existence of significant issues and barriers. So the program was also tasked with developing specific strategies that the trucking industry can implement to increase the relatively low number of women.

American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) findings involved participation from thousands of truck drivers, motor carriers, and truck driver training schools. The study used surveys, interviews, and a focus group of women drivers to pinpoint their career hurdles and develop action plans for overcoming them.

The Top Challenges facing Women Professional Truck Drivers determined by the ATRI research were as follows:

ATRI’s Recruitment Findings:

The study highlights a range of factors influencing the recruitment of women truck drivers. For instance, nearly half of the women drivers entered trucking through a family member.

Women are interested in truck driving because of the competitive and equal pay, independence, and each day variety rather than monotony.

Equal pay for both men and women drivers is a strong motive for many women entering the industry and is acknowledged by motor carriers as essential for recruitment and retention.

Training and Employment Choices: There are plenty of truck driver schools looking for students and trucking companies looking for drivers. However, the difficulty for women is to find both a driver training school and a carrier that’s the right fit – imperative for a positive experience.

On the motor carrier side of the research, survey respondents identified recruitment communications as the most effective in hiring women for their operation. Women drivers indicated what was extremely important when deciding to become a truck driver was that those ad messages be honest and straightforward with the good, the bad and the ugly.

Competitive pay and benefits were cited as top deciding factors for the women survey respondents. Over half of the motor carriers were in complete agreement these are the number one priorities of their women drivers, indicating that pay potential is a vital recruitment strategy in advertising.

Several other concerns of women need to be addressed by motor carriers if they are going to recruit and retain women drivers. Recruiting women into truck driving is the first step; however, retaining them requires some major attitude and cultural shifts from the norm within the trucking industry.

Retention of women drivers is influenced by several key factors identified in the study. Addressing these factors can significantly improve job satisfaction and reduce turnover rates among women truck drivers.

From the top down within a trucking company, women-specific initiatives must be put into place at all levels within the trucking organization. According to ATRI’s surveys, carriers with initiatives aimed at women drivers see higher retention rates. This includes featuring women in marketing materials, mentorship programs, and involvement in women’s groups, according to responding carriers.

Having a company culture that’s open and transparent with driver communications and recognition are necessary programs for appealing to and keeping women drivers.

This ATRI study came to the following conclusions:
Through multiple research tools, the ATRI research team identified six key challenges that regularly impact the success of women truck drivers:

1. Negative Industry Image and Perception
2. Unable to Complete Truck Driver Training
3. Unsatisfactory Motor Carrier Company Culture
4. Inability to Acclimate to the OTR Driver Lifestyle
5. Limited Parking and Restroom Facility Access
6. Excessive Gender Harassment and Discrimination.

Key findings pertaining to the recruitment of women drivers:

• Again, nearly half of the women survey respondents got into trucking through a family member.
• Truck driver motivators – Women commonly enter the industry because they are seeking competitive and equal pay, and they enjoy the independence and variability from day-to-day.
• Pay parity – Trucking offers competitive pay and benefits for truck drivers. Drivers rank compensation as a top motivator and motor carriers acknowledge its importance for driver recruitment and retention. Pay parity for women drivers compared to men drivers was a common theme among research participants.
• Research training and employment options – There is an abundance of truck driver training school and motor carrier options available across the U.S. Finding both a training program and employer that meets their needs, properly prepares them, and treats them fairly can make a significant difference in their experience and tenure as a truck driver.

Key findings pertaining to the retention of women drivers:

• Women-specific initiatives – Motor carriers with women-specific initiatives keep a higher percentage of women drivers (8.1%) compared to those without women-specific initiatives (5.0%). Initiatives may consist of featuring women in marketing materials, mentorship programs, and involvement in women’s groups.
• Motor carrier top priorities to improve company culture – Motor carriers perceive open / transparent communications and driver recognition / appreciation as the top priorities for creating a positive work environment.
• Building healthy habits on the road – Inability to access exercise facilities was the most frequently reported issue among women, as 42.2 percent of women encounter this daily. Additionally, women drivers emphasized the need to prepare meals in advance to minimize snacking and improve diet.
• Access to safe parking –Truck parking was ranked as the top issue by focus group participants. More than 41 percent of women drivers struggle to find parking daily. Finding a safe place to park – let alone a legal place to park – has its challenges. Several methods to increase personal safety at parking facilities include bringing a dog, having a co-driver, parking in well-lit areas, and researching parking facilities in advance.
• Access to clean restrooms – Almost 40 percent of women drivers struggle to access restroom facilities daily. Among all the reasons given for why it is more challenging for women to be truck drivers, 12.2 percent of women responses related to restrooms access / cleanliness.
• Harassment and discrimination – Nearly 17 percent of women experience harassment or discrimination daily compared to 8.4 percent of men. Despite many women drivers reporting they’re respected and treated fairly; this is not a universal experience. Research participants in the survey, interviews and focus group indicated they encounter disrespectful truck and passenger car drivers, trainers, shippers, and motor carriers.
• Reasons for leaving – Family, and not enough home time were the top two reasons women survey respondents left truck driving roles.

ATRI’s Study provides some suggestions and solutions to many of these challenges. You can find these on pages 54, 55, and 56 in “Identifying and Mitigating the Challenges Faced by Women Truck Drivers” published by American Transportation Research Institute in June 2024. To request a copy of the report Link Here.

  “A woman’s success in trucking is not determined by her gender or age, but by her dedication and hard work” – Unknown