America’s trucking industry is consumed by an ever-expanding chasm that is the driver shortage.
The industry is exploring everything from the many technologies available that could improve efficiencies and increase driver uptimes to driverless vehicles. It’s also working to lower the legal interstate driver age from 21 to 18, but to-date the industry has managed to evade a significant portion of the population: women. As of 2020, women made up only 7.8% of the U.S.’s professional truck driver workforce, according to the American Trucking Association.
Statistically, one of the top reasons women don’t consider truck driving as a career is safety.
Nearly 18% of respondents in a Women in Trucking Association survey think trucking is not a safe industry for women, with 87% saying they feel truck stops are unsafe for women and 85.5% saying rest areas are unsafe. Approximately 75% say the cab is a location with significant safety threats.
According to data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, women tend to be more focused on safety than men. But that data is referring to driving safely, which by the way is a great reason to hire women. But when considering a career as a professional driver, women have a greater fear than being involved in or killed in an accident.
I remember the first time my mother had a conversation with me about sexual violence. I was 6.
From a young age, women are taught how to avoid violence – sexual or otherwise – at the hands of men. If I’m walking along a sidewalk at night after grabbing dinner with friends, I’m constantly observing what’s around me; I’m holding my keys between my fingers, and I have my finger at the ready to press the lock button on my phone five times to call emergency services (five is too many if you’re in an emergency situation, by the way) until I’m safely in my car, which I don’t get in until I’ve checked the back seat.
