PLOVER, WI — Women In Trucking Association, Inc. (WIT) is helping the transportation industry attract female drivers through a newly released guide that identifies what women look for in a carrier and what attracts women into the industry.
One of the industry’s top challenges for 2016 will be to deal with the capacity crunch. One way to increase the amount of qualified professional drivers is to increase the amount of women in the trucking industry. Currently, women comprise less than six percent of the driver population, despite representing over 50 percent of the workforce as a whole.
The 23-page publication features research conducted by graduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Stout identifies the top five job attributes cited by female drivers. The students also studied recruiting strategies and what works best for various age groups of the female respondents. They identified how certain words and graphics attract a women’s attention to a recruiting ad.
In 2014, WIT held a recruiting ad contest with the winning ad chosen by female drivers. The comments were especially insightful and provided greater understanding of how potential female drivers perceive the ad’s descriptions and graphics.
Information from industry sources include data from Staymetrics and Strategic Programs, Inc. that contributed data about driver pay and turnover relating to gender. The guide includes comparisons between female drivers and their male counterparts.
“This publication is the result of years of research and extensive data collection from our industry partners and the students at UW-Stout,” said Ellen Voie, WIT’s President and CEO. “Our mission at Women In Trucking includes increasing the percentage of women employed in trucking, and drivers are an important part of this goal. This guide breaks down the recruiting aspect into why, how, and where to recruit female drivers.”
The Women In Trucking recruiting guide is only available (free) to corporate members of WIT. Contact WIT ([email protected]) to request your copy. For information about the publication or to join the nonprofit association visit www.womenintrucking.org.