The percentage of female safety professionals in corporations with for-hire or private fleets in the commercial freight transportation industry continues to increase, according to new data highlighted in the WIT Index, which was just released by the Women In Trucking Association (WIT). The WIT Index is the official industry barometer to benchmark and measures each year the percentage of women who make up critical roles in transportation.
The 2022 WIT Index shows that 40.5 percent of safety professionals in transportation companies are women. This is the first year the WIT Index has included the percentage of technicians in its annual survey. The 2022 WIT Index shows approximately 20 percent of respondents report having 90 percent or more women in safety roles, with another 28 percent saying they have 50 percent to 70 percent women in those roles. Approximately 27 percent report having 10 percent to 40 percent women in safety roles, while 23.5 percent report they have no women in safety roles.
“More and more women are becoming safety directors and we are encouraged by these numbers and look forward to seeing the percentages increase in the coming years,” said Ellen Voie, WIT’s president and chief executive officer. “We look forward to seeing this percentage continue to increase in the coming years.”
Initiated in 2016, the WIT Index is comprised of average percentages of females in various roles that are reported by companies in transportation, including predominantly for-hire trucking companies, private fleets, transportation intermediaries, railroads, ocean carriers, equipment manufacturers, and technology companies. This data was confidentially gathered from January through April of 2022 from 180 participating companies and percentages are reported only as aggregate totals of respondents.
This year, WIT has expanded its collection of the percentage of women to include not only safety professionals, but also technicians, operations, human resources and talent management, and sales and marketing. The WIT Index historically also has identified the percentage of women who are in leadership roles and professional drivers.
For more information on the WIT Index and to download a full executive summary of the 2022 WIT Index findings, visit https://www.womenintrucking.
