Volvo has announced it has joined a number of other organisations to help recruit and encourage more women to secure careers in the transport industry, particularly targeting the significant shortage of truck drivers Aas demand for road freight continues to surges towards 2030.
Volvo points out that women still representing only a small share of the workforce and after running a successful Iron Women pilot program, the truck manufacturer has joined with WomenCan Australia, Wodonga TAFE (and Transport Women Australia to launch a joint training, licensing and job placement program to attract more women into transport careers and to hopefully build a stronger, more sustainable driver pipeline.
The group highlights the fact that demand for road freight demand in Australia is set to grow by 80 per cent by 2030, and that the industry is already short of more than 28,000 truck drivers.
They say that this shortage is projected to worsen as an aging workforce moves rapidly toward retirement while there are too few younger people enter the industry.
Volvo says that women remain significantly under-represented in truck driving roles, making up just 4.4 per cent of all truck drivers in Australia.
Research commissioned by Volvo Australia has identified some of the major barriers to bringing women into the industry, including accessing the right licenses which amounted to 36 per cent, 34 per cent citing concerns about physical strength, and 33 per cent indicating that a “blokey” culture was a barrier.
However, according to the research, 76 per cent of the respondents said biggest barrier is that women have never even considered the industry as a career option.
Volvo says that the new partnership brings it together with WomenCan Australia, Wodonga TAFE and Transport Women Australia to hopefully remove the barriers and create clear pathways into work.
The organisation says the program will aim to support women to gain a truck licence, connect with real job opportunities and receive ongoing mentoring and industry support.
The new partnership claims it directly addresses industry barriers by providing targeted training and licensing pathways for women, ensures wraparound support, job placement and mentoring, so women not only gain licences but enter and stay in meaningful, secure work, and creates what it says is a scalable, repeatable model, that can be used with regional and metro employers across the freight and logistics sector.
WomenCan Australia is an organisation that supports women to connect to new career pathways, including women who have been out of the workforce due to caring responsibilities, family violence, migration and settlement, or other barriers to education and training.
It says that these women bring lived experience, determination and potential that the workforce needs.
The organisation says that through this partnership, women will have access to accredited training through Wodonga TAFE and strong industry connections and mentoring through Transport Women Australia and Volvo Trucks.
Volvo Truck Australia’s vice president of people and culture, Jane Humphreys Australia said that right now Australia simply does not have enough qualified drivers to keep freight moving.
“We cannot solve that challenge if we keep drawing from the same small talent pool,” Humphreys said.
“By partnering with WomenCan Australia, Wodonga TAFE and Transport Women Australia Limited, we are opening the road to secure, skilled transport careers for more women and building a stronger, more sustainable driver workforce for the long term,” she added.
The program was formally launched last Friday (10 April) at CMV Truck and Bus in Melbourne showcasing the training pathways, as well as featuring women already pursuing transport careers. It also provided opportunities for partners, government and industry to hear about solutions to the driver shortage.
“This partnership aims to set a new standard for what an inclusive, professional and sustainable trucking industry should look like,” Humphreys said.
“A more equitable and diverse driver workforce introduces new skills, new perspectives and more targeted support for the people who keep our trucks on the road,” she said.
“By investing in this partnership, we’re helping reimagine a transport industry that is fairer, more respectful and more sustainable for everyone,” said Humphreys.
