Smaller trucking companies have larger percentage of women drivers

Updated Oct 22, 2024
Woman truck driver in front of her tractor-trailer

A recent survey by a leading trucking organization found that the smaller the company, the more women drivers they employ.

That is one of the findings of the Women In Trucking Association's recently released 2024-25 WIT Index. 

In announcing its findings the WIT said, "It has been a common assumption for years that the size of companies with for-hire or private fleets have a correlation to the percentage of professional truck drivers who are women. For the first time, the 2024-25 WIT Index reported percentage of professional truck drivers who are women based upon company workforce size."

According to this year’s WIT Index:

  • Micro/small companies with less than 500 employees report that 12.5% of their overall professional driver population who hold CDLs are women
  • Large/medium enterprises with 500 to 4,999 employees report that about 10.5% of their overall professional driver workforce who hold CDLs are women
  • Giant/major enterprises with more than 5,000 employees report that about 7% of their truck driver population who hold CDLs are women

A statement from the WIT said "It’s important to note that these percentages reflect professional truck drivers who hold CDLs and are driving medium- to heavy-duty commercial trucks, not last-mile or delivery vans or other vehicles that are not heavy-duty trucks." 

The 2024-25 WIT Index survey also found a substantial number of women in influential leadership roles. It found:

  • About 28% in C-Suite/executive positions are women
  • 34.5% in supervisory leadership roles are women,
  • 29.5% of those who serve on boards of directors are women

WIT said a significant percentage of women also hold roles in these functions:

  • 74.5% in human resources/talent management
  • 38.5% in dispatcher roles
  • 38.5% in safety

However, only 4% of truck diesel technicians are women.

From August 2023 through April 2024, WIT conducted a survey of organizations of all sizes in transportation to gather percentages of women in their workforce. The respondents were asked to report data that included demographics, status of the company’s diversity and inclusion policy, and percentages of females in various roles within the company.

RELATED NEWS: Study identifies issues keeping women from becoming truck drivers

About 350 respondents reported their organizations’ gender diversity statistics in the WIT Index (2024-25) survey. A majority of them (51.5%) represent for-hire motor carriers or companies with private fleets as part of the organization’s operations. Of those respondents representing organizations with fleet assets, 38% are for-hire motor carriers of various types (full truckload, less-than-truckload, refrigerated, flatbed, expedited and liquid) and 13.5% are manufacturers, retailers, distributors, and other company types with private fleets. Another 13.5% of respondents are intermediary companies, including third-party logistics companies, truck brokers, and intermodal marketing companies.