Women In Logistics And Transport
As an Accountancy firm that only takes on clients from the Logistics and Transport Industry, we know that less than 1% of the Ltd Company HGV Drivers we have as clients, are female.
But is this a true reflection of the amount of female HGV Drivers in the UK, or even an indication of Women working in the wider Logistics And Transport Community?
A quick google will give you figures that state between 1% and 5% of all HGV Drivers in the UK are female, but whilst this is a great reflection on volumes of women LGV Drivers, these percentages pale into insignificance when you look at the broader spectrum of careers that women have taken up within logistics.
Across the UK and indeed the world, Women are heavily committed to the transportation and logistics industry, with many taking up roles in training, assessing and transport management.
Let’s focus instead on the huge range of opportunity available to women, within the HGV/LGV industry.
Logistic And Transport Trainers
We spoke to our friends at Transport Training Academy about their roles and if they have noticed any change in the numbers of females taking up training opportunities since they launched an initiative in 2008 aimed at attracting women into the logistics industry.
Rachael Scanlin-Davis, a Director at TTA, has been in the logistics training sector for 22 years. We ask her if the landscape is changing since a European Social Fund grant was awarded to support a recruitment drive aimed at women obtaining an LGV licence. This ESF funded push was aptly named Girls In Gear.
Rachael ‘accidentally’ fell into a logistics role. It isn’t that she never considered a role in logistics, it is simply that she wasn’t aware that there were so many roles within the HGV Community that she could excel in. It had never been presented as an option.
With this In mind, Rachael wanted to push logistics to the fore of everyone’s minds when it came to making decisions about their careers. In a bid to help guide women into a traditionally male dominated industry, a nationally recognised recruitment drive was born. Transport Training Academy commissioned The Empowerment Truck.
Julie Kirkham is one of the women that moved into logistics following the Girls In Gear campaign. Julie is now Head of Logistics Instruction and Driver Development at TTA.
Here Julie tells us about the beginnings of her career in this industry.
“ The training truck was very pink! The scheme was funded via a European Social Fund – directly targeting women, as back then women represented less than 1% of the work force. When I became a lorry driver, I was surprised that there weren’t more women in the role! I would probably on average meet another female driver once per year, if I was lucky. Wherever I delivered, women would come out of the offices and have a chat with me and ask me lots of questions and express amazement, as they had simply never ever considered that lorry driving was a role for women. Driving lorries, kept me physically and mentally active, I visited some great places, whilst earning good money. The flexibility and availability of the shifts available made it possible to fit work around my then young family.”
Without the spotlight that the recruitment drive shone on roles in logistics, Julie would never have considered a career driving lorries, but it is clear that this was a perfect move for her and her family. Julie’s enthusiasm still hasn’t wavered for the industry. In fact she now encourages other people to consider it and teaches them how to lead a rewarding and enjoyable career in logistics.
Switching Into A Logistics Career
Linda Currey is another woman that had never considered a career in logistics.
When Covid 19 sadly relieved Linda of her employment, she was forced to consider other options, and she, like many other women, had to cast aside her ‘traditional views’ of roles and enter into unknown territory.
Linda explains a little more about her role and why she believes more women should consider the wider Logistics related career options.
“I am a logistics assessor at Transport Training Academy. My role is to teach and assess students within the Warehouse & Storage sector. This covers various aspects of moving and handling, along with equipment operation.
I enjoy every aspect of my role, especially being able to teach new skills to people who would not normally think to get into the logistics industry. I have been given every opportunity to progress here so I know that I am teaching skills for a life long career.
I would certainly recommend that more ladies to come into the logistics industry. Speaking from a training and assessing aspect, the general consensus is that females trainers tend to be more calming for the more nervous candidates, and seem to have more patience.”
Julie’s journey from lady lorry driver to head of Logistics Instruction and Driver Development happened gradually with support from TTA. It is easier than many realise to utilise skills from your current profession and transfer them into a role in logistics. If you are thinking of achieving your goals within this industry then Julie would like to say…
“For anyone thinking of joining the industry I would say absolutely go for it, the opportunities are amazing, the career is well rewarded, with excellent pay, terms and conditions. No two days are the same. The freedom and feeling that driving a lorry brings is addictive. You feel like you are always outdoors, always moving forward, never looking back. It is the best decision I ever made and the support and comradery from the people I work with is ace.”
Rachael certainly sees the benefits of a balanced workplace.
“Especially within a training role, women can bring a different dimension to things. A good mix of workforce balance gives us the edge as a company. Some people learn better from men, some from women and with our mixed team there are options and opportunities so that our learners can achieve the best outcome. “
Whilst Rachael hasn’t necessarily seen an overall increase in female LGV drivers, there has definitely been an upward trend in other roles within the logistics industry.
“Through my time in the industry there hasn’t really been an increase in female learner drivers. We have however seen an increase in other courses such as the Transport Managers CPC. We are nearing the end of a course at the moment and there are 7 learners on the course, 5 of which are female. These ladies will be working in a traffic office and will be the Transport Managers of the future.”
It is obvious when speaking with Rachael that this is a career that she is proud of, one which she champions at every opportunity. This ethos is woven into the fabric of this training establishment and the walls full of thank you cards in the reception area are a great indicator of this.
There were cards from people that gained qualifications with Transport Training Academy, both in person and online. Though perhaps most tellingly, Thank You cards from previous Employees, and the families of previous Employees.
Rachael tells us a little more about the culture within TTA.
“We have worked hard to build a team of highly trained individuals which is blended. We have always invested in our team as they are the future of the company. Through voicing their opinions and views we have built a culture of mutual respect. We also encourage the whole of the team to be the best that they can be through continual development and training. You are only as good as the team that surrounds you, so I guess that makes us pretty good!”
I left TTA with a very clear understanding that this company truly invests in people and the HGV/Logistics industry.
You can head over to TTA’s website to find out more about their training and career opportunities.
If you work with the transport and logistics sector them please consider using us as your accountant, or payroll service provider. Find out more about why we specialise in this industry instead of any other by reading about our Founder-Neil Hooton.
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