In conjunction with International Women’s Day, the Saskatchewan Trucking Association is launching its Drive Her Future marketing and social media campaign.
Thomas Archer with the STA says both provincially and nationally, only about 4 per cent of truck drivers identify as female. To drive those numbers up, the STA is posting ads, YouTube videos, and new landing page on its website, all encouraging women to give the trucking industry a try.
He adds that women don’t necessarily have to drive a truck to work in the trucking industry, as there are dozens of other options.
“There’s things like dispatcher, fleet manager, logistics coordinators, safety compliance officers, operations managers, brokers, freight agents, HR specialists, data entry people, sales and business development, marketing coordinators,” and the list goes on, he assures.
Although tapping into this relatively untouched demographic would help fill the over 20,000 vacant trucking positions nationwide, it would also improve diversity, communication, support, collaboration, and most importantly safety in the workplace.
“A lot of studies suggest that women truck drivers generally have better safety records compared to their male counterparts. For instance, women are less likely to be involved in accidents, receive fewer traffic violations, have lower crash rates.”
Archer adds that the trucking industry is looking head-on into a labour shortage within the coming years. He says this is due to an aging workforce, as the average Canadian driver is 49 years old.
As for the Drive Her Future campaign, Archer explains that it will cover two different angles: explaining the advantages of hiring women to employers and attracting women to the industry by showcasing what a great environment it offers.
He says you’ll notice a number of posts on various media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram. “So, things like ‘Did you know that women truck drivers have higher job satisfaction rates? Did you know a diverse workforce improves your companies imaging culture?”
There will also be a series of YouTube videos posted, featuring real stories from women who work in the industry, and wouldn’t have it any other way.
