Women truck drivers have reported to the Women in Trucking Association (WIT) that they feel safe on the job an average of 4.4 on a scale of one to 10. And while WIT is nearing the end of a three-year safety study with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Ellen Voie, president and CEO of WIT, decided the industry needed to hear from its female workers sooner rather than later.
Angelique Temple, professional driver for Tornado Transport, and Kirleen Neely, CEO of Neely Behavioral Health, joined Voie during WIT's 2021 Accelerate! Virtual Conference to examine the recent data from an independent study of 400-plus participants, as well as to discuss how to keep women safe on the road.
Women are in danger at some point on the road, Temple stated, urging them to take it upon themselves to put certain protection protocols in place.
“Communicate with other female drivers in your company,” Temple said. “There are only two female drivers at Tornado Transport, and we always let each other know where we are and where we’re headed. When I’m on the road, my entire day is planned. For example, I don’t sleep where I shower. I will shower at one truck stop, drive an hour, and sleep at another truck stop. That way, when I arrive, I have my entire evening routine already completed, and I don’t have to step out of the cab.”
Temple created this protocol after she was once attacked on the steps of her cab, fighting for her life for about five minutes before help arrived. She utilized her physical self-defense knowledge to fight off her attacker. She credited her New York heritage for that instinct, but urged other women drivers to take self-defense courses to learn the basics.
According to the WIT study, 44% of women feel safe at rest areas while 24% carry guns in their cabs. So, what are carriers doing to help women feel safer on the road?
See also: How to keep women in trucking
Of the 400-plus respondents, 79% reported that company equipment offers adequate safety, while 69% said that harassment policies exist. According to Neely, however, harassment policies only work if people are there to actually enforce them.
“Rules are the starting point, not the destination,” Neely explained. “Human nature pushes against rules to see if they can get more. Sometimes, policy doesn’t mirror culture. Companies that can identify who pushes back against the rules, make harassment comments—companies who enforce zero-tolerance culture—have more success in having a safe environment.”
“Safety is a mindset,” Neely urged. “By taking that mindset, you have to make yourself an authority in your own safety.”
FMCSA seeks to quantify the 'harassment problem'
For her closing keynote during WIT's virtual conference, Meera Joshi, FMCSA's acting administrator, stressed the importance of the industry coming together to ensure women feel safe and adequately supported in trucking.
According to American Trucking Associations data, women make up just 7% of the truck driving workforce. That’s partly because driving requires enduring long, irregular hours, lonely conditions, and the risk of severe crashes, Joshi pointed out.
“One of the starkest detractors is that as compared to their male counterparts, many more women truck drivers feel unsafe on the road,” Joshi said. “And sadly, there are too many cases in which these fears are founded, making carrying mace and ensuring friends know your schedule are mandatory precautions for all women truck drivers."
“Data on the harassment and the assault of women truck drivers is sparse,” Joshi added. “In part, because when it is reported, it is often misclassified, downgraded, or dismissed. And, in part, because all too often, the fear of retribution dissuades women from reporting. Recounting an incident of sexual assault or harassment is hard enough. Add on the fear of being punished for such bravery and you end up with a dangerous silence. But these are conversations that we need to have if we are going to make a difference.”
See also: Additional background on the Women of Trucking Advisory Board.
To that end, FMCSA has begun the process of surveying the industry to quantify the breadth of the harassment problem. In its project titled, Crime Prevention for Truckers, researchers are collecting data on the prevalence of crimes involving threats and assaults against minority and female truckers. In addition to conducting a literature review, the research team will survey a sample of the truck driver population, gathering data on how many female/minority drivers have been threatened or assaulted; the nature of the offenses (verbal threat, physical assault, etc.); times and locations of the incidents (day versus night; truck terminal, shipping dock, fueling station, etc.); and characteristics of both the perpetrators and the victims.
Joshi said to look for an additional survey next spring asking industry stakeholders about their experience with crime, assault, and harassment in trucking.
In addition to research on crimes against truck drivers, Joshi pointed out that the new Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which President Biden signed into law on Nov. 15, would establish a Women of Trucking Advisory Board to identify barriers and industry trends that directly or indirectly discourage women from pursuing and retaining careers in trucking. The board also will identify ways to facilitate support for women pursuing careers in trucking, including training and outreach programs.
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