Women in Transportation

Driver Difference

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has been studying issues in our industry since 1954, “with an emphasis on the trucking industry’s essential role in a safe, efficient and viable transportation system.”

Its focus areas include:

• Congestion and Mobility

• Economic Analysis

• Safety and Security

• Technology and Operations

• Environment

• Transportation Infrastructure

ATRI just issued a call for responses to its new survey: “Motor Carrier Input on Challenges and Opportunities for Improving Accessibility for Women Truck Drivers.”

Here’s question number 10 in the survery:

What can we learn from the question?

Some of these options presented are not gender-related. Flexible hours and routes, competitive pay and benefits, hiring bonus, opportunity to get home every night: those options are not necessarily gender-based.

And then we have the options that do tend to tilt toward gender. People often seek employment for the affinity, in this case the “women’s organizations.” Child-care services, training with a woman instructor, and female representation in marketing materials: these seem choices especially focused on women.

It’s the “strong emphasis on safety systems and personal security” that we most appreciate. The statistics reveal that violence against women is an unfortunately tangible reality throughout the nation.

As with most employment opportunities, in transportation the goal is always safe environments. (Probably doesn’t apply so much to those applying for, say, the nuclear energy waste management world; that might attract more of the the “highly competitive pay and benefits” crowd.)

Also important is the child-care service topic. Create the narrative: from a desk job in the same city to driving a route, the woman applicant wants to know those options before applying for any job.

We’re interested to learn the results.

The survey is open until Friday, November 17, 2023 and can be accessed here.