Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/671338
60 April 2016 BestDriverJOBS www.bestdriverjobs.com Women In Trucking M argaret Mead once said, "Never doubt that a small group of thought- ful, commi ed ci zens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Women In Trucking Association (WIT) started with a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens who were focused on increasing the percent- age of women employed in the trucking industry. In the eight years since its inception, the organization is success- fully moving its mission forward. For many women, the need for a dedicated organization to attract female drivers, mechanics, safety directors, leaders, and more makes sense. Others scratch their heads and ask why we need "special treatment" for women in the trucking industry. All we're asking for is a level playing field. According to the department of labor, women comprise 44 percent of full- time workers in the labor force. Women make up 52 percent of management in all occupations. However, in the trucking industry, only six percent of the driver popula- tion is comprised of women. Addition- ally, women make up only 21 percent of transportation, storage and distribu- tion managers, and 18 percent of su- pervisors of transportation and material handling workers. Recently, we released our WIT Index which tracked both female board mem- bers and female executives at the fifteen publicly traded trucking companies. Ten of these companies had NO women executives and seven had no women serving on their boards of directors. Compare this to the 19 percent of direc- tor positions held by women outside of the industry. If you feel these numbers are unac- ceptable, then I urge you to join Women In Trucking and support our efforts to increase the percentage of female driv- ers, supervisors, directors, and execu- tives. How are we accomplishing this mis- sion? The first step is to measure our current state of the industry. The Uni- versity of Memphis, under the direction of Dr. Stephanie Ivey, is completing a survey of the top 100 for hire and pri- vate carriers and recording the percent- age of female drivers and managers. We'll release this information later this year. Our second goal is to address reasons why women aren't fairly represented in these roles. We've conducted extensive research on what women look for in By Ellen Voie, WIT President/CEO What is the value of the Women In Trucking Associa on?