Women comprise 44 percent of the US labor force, but only 6 percent of the nation’s truck drivers. Now a group called Women in Trucking (WIT) wants to change all that.
One of the ways they plan to do that is to introduce the concept of women truck drivers to young girls at an early age.
New Girl Scout Patch
Thanks to WIT, the newest patch girls can earn in the Girl Scouts program is the “Women in Trucking” badge, according to Ellen Voie, WIT’s president and CEO. The purpose of the Girl Scouts program is to raise awareness of girls at an early age that they can be anything they want to be when they grow up, even truck drivers.
To earn the badge, Girl Scouts are required to attend a “Trucks Are for Girls” event in which they will hear from truck driving experts, drive a truck simulator, and actually climb inside the cab of an 18-wheeler.
Jaedyn Roemhildt, 9, one of the Girl Scouts who already has earned her “Women in Trucking” patch, said she was surprised by what trucking had to offer girls.
“I didn’t know that it was for girls, too,” Roemhildt told WIT’s Redefining the Road magazine. “I thought those trucks weren’t fun. But I got in one and it was really fun. I didn’t even know they had a horn.”
In addition to working with the Girl Scouts, WIT also has developed a children’s activity book and school-appropriate literature that presents the concept of female truckers for children to consider.
Improving Truck Design
In addition to raising awareness among America’s next generation of female workers, WIT also is taking action right now to improve workplace conditions for women truck drivers.
The group is working with Ryder and other truck manufacturers to redesign truck cabs to improve driver safety, according to Voie.
“Safety is an area of concern for all drivers, but more appreciably for women who might be more vulnerable on the road,” Voie said in a recent WIT news release. “We’ve challenged manufacturers to include safety alarms in the cab to alert a sleeping driver of an intruder. We also teach women (and men) techniques to stay safe in a truck stop and on the road.”
Another of the group’s concern is ergonomics, according to Voie.
“From seats, to steps, to the dash, and the sleeper berth, changes are being made to accommodate a greater range of body shapes and sizes,” she said.