Tag Archives: Women in Trucking Inc.

You can help combat modern day slavery

When Liz was six years old her mother sold her into the sex industry with the advice to “smile, look pretty, and do whatever he says if you love me.” For the rest of her childhood, she endured constant abuse until she was able to escape.

Now, Liz shares her story as the Field Trainer at Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT), which is a resource to combat human trafficking in the trucking industry. TAT has a presence in both the United States and Canada and offers numerous ways to educate those of us who work in transportation careers.

WIT members we at ThinkTrade Inc. as an affiliate partner bring you the best ever Form 2290 – HVUT electronic filing for July 2022 – June 2023 Tax Year at Tax2290.com. Apply the code and enjoy the special discount of 20% on your 2290 eFile fee.

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Combatting sexual harassment in trucking

The Women In Trucking Association strives to be a resource for the trucking industry. This means we spend a great deal of time collecting data from our members. Everything from recruiting and retention to harassment is analyzed and the results are either White Papers, webinars, or benchmarking information.

Late last year we conducted a survey on harassment and over 400 drivers responded. The results were disturbing. Nearly seventy percent of drivers claimed verbal harassment and nearly half said they had been verbally threatened at least once. Shockingly, 57 percent reported receiving unwanted physical advances and six percent claimed they had been raped.

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Let’s talk about turnover!

The word turnover in the trucking industry does NOT mean a flakey pastry filled with fruit. Unfortunately, it describes a reality pertaining to the revolving door for our professional drivers. Current estimates place the turnover rate at large carriers at 89 percent. That means a trucking company with five thousand drivers needs to HIRE almost 4,500 drivers EVERY YEAR to maintain their current fleet.

The American Trucking Associations explains turnover as a number that, “accurately measures drivers moving within carriers.” They stress that these drivers aren’t leaving the industry, but just finding a different company.

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2020 New Year’s Resolutions

If you’re like many of us, you probably made at least one New Year’s resolution recently. According to TheQuint.com, the most common new year’s resolution is to get in shape, or at least, to make an effort to work out. That’s probably why January is the top month for sales of exercise gear and clothing.

Why is January 1st such a popular time for us to try and make changes in our lives? A new year offers us a fresh start, and a way to put our past behaviors to rest. In 1740, John Wesley, an English clergyman, held the first Covenant Renewal Service on New Year’s Eve. The service was a time for thinking about past mistakes and resolving to do better in the coming year.

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Is the playing field level for women at the loading dock?

Each year the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) asks drivers and carriers about their top concerns. As you can imagine, the drivers list differs from the trucking companies’ list, but some issues do affect both groups significantly.

Detention and delays at customer facilities was one of the issues that was important to both groups. It was the fifth concern for drivers and number sixth on the list for carriers. Delays at the loading docks reduce a driver’s productivity and decrease the level of compensation for both drivers and their companies.

ATRI gathers date through an online survey website but they also collect responses in person at the Mid-America Trucking Show each spring. This year they received over 1,100 responses from drivers. Thirteen percent of the drivers were female, which is actually much higher than the industry average of ten percent. Most of the respondents were company drivers, but surveys were collected from owner-operators and independent contractors as well.

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What is your intent?

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright once said, “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.”

In this age of social media which allows anonymity and seems to breed contempt, there are too many people who hurl insults at one another without much thought to how it reflects on her (or him).

I read some of these nasty or offensive comments and it makes me wonder: What is the intent? Is the poster trying to offend people or is she just a negative person all the time? Is everyone so angry they just react to everything with rage?

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You missed it!

What if it was YOUR daughter?

Women In Trucking Association, A voice for gender diversity

Regan is a professional driver for YRCW. When she started working for the carrier, she identified as a male but has since transitioned into a female. She is one of the members of the gender diversity task force recently formed by the Women In Trucking Association (WIT) to understand the needs of the LGBTQ community better.

We realize there is a growing number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer professional drivers and other transportation workers. As the voice of gender diversity, we want to ensure we are inclusive and to create an awareness within the trucking industry.

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Our Roads Our Safety

For those of us in the trucking industry, we are well aware that the four-wheeler causes most crashes involving a commercial truck. It’s frustrating for all of us that student drivers to senior drivers are unaware of the blind spots, stopping distances and the massive weight of a tractor-trailer.

Every time the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) creates (or changes) regulations that affect professional drivers, I hear complaints that they are the safe drivers and someone needs to educate the motoring public. These drivers feel as if the rules should apply to all drivers and not just those in 18-wheelers.

What they don’t understand is that the FMCSA CANNOT regulate cars. They were designed to regulate trucks and busses, and that’s why they have “Motor Carrier” in their name. The states have more authority to regulate automobiles, but the only federal agency that creates rules to govern cars is the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

Form 2290 – Federal Vehicle Use Tax Return is now Due for 2019-20 Tax Year. Choose eFile at www.Tax2290.com and report it today!

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