Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/566726
CHANGING LANES 12 SEPTEMBER 2015 // WWW.CHANGINGLANESDIGITAL.COM Industry Insider By Alice Deters Ryder, J.B. Hunt work to bring more women to trucking In many ways, for all of its history, the trucking industry has been largely dominated by males. In 2014, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that only 5.8% of truck drivers were women, lower than the percentage of female construction managers or mechanical engineers. Luckily, it looks like this is in the process of changing thanks to a number of new industry-wide initiatives encouraging more and more women to find a home in trucking, that growth should continue. More and more people are working to bring women into a variety of roles in the trucking industry, from OTR truckers to CEOs at trucking companies nationwide. Ryder Dedicated recently announced that they were partnering with Women in Trucking to work with cab manufacturers to make trucks more adaptable for female drivers. Ryder and WIT plan to promote, among other things, adjustable seats and pedals for shorter drivers, lower steps for accessing both cabs and freight, and less fatiguing automatic transmissions. Ryder and WIT also point out that in addition to being beneficial to women, these changes will also benefit the aging driver population, which now averages 55 years old. Additionally, Ryder and WIT are calling