OTTAWA, ON– The trucking industry’s first-ever Women with Drive Leadership Summit has been scheduled for March 5 in Toronto. The summit marks the first step in a three-year action plan to tackle challenges and barriers for women in trucking. 

Trucking HR Canada unveiled initial plans for the summit as one activity included in a three-year action plan, which is based on the results of surveys which reached out to women already working in trucking, male managers, and women searching for careers.

Other actions will include:

• Introducing a marketing campaign to promote trucking as a career of choice for women, and to educate industry employees about the steps to create a truly inclusive workplace;
• Creating mentorship, training and professional development opportunities for women in trucking. In addition to the summit, this will include mentorship programs for frontline workers such as drivers, mechanics and dispatchers and women in management positions;
• Developing workplace procedures that support an inclusive working environment. Practical tools will include such things as resource materials, information about best practices, and checklists. Further research will also explore the concerns related to compensation which were expressed by women in the surveys.

“We are taking steps to facilitate lasting change, transform business cultures, and support the women who pursue career opportunities in trucking,” said Cavalier Transport’s Vicki Stafford, chair of the national advisory committee. “Canada’s trucking industry needs to recruit and retain far more women to maximize its potential and address an intensifying shortage of employees.”