Trucking industry in Nebraska and beyond seeks to recruit women

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Truck driving is known as a male-dominated field, but an initiative by the Biden administration seeks to change that.

It’s called the Women in Trucking Advisory Board, and it is making big strides to recruit women into the trucking industry.

The initiative was primarily a response to supply chain deadlocks, but it’s also about empowering women in the trucking field.

The advisory board will provide education, training and mentorship for women interested in trucking.

It’s estimated only 7% of long-haul truck drivers are women, and while there are females in other positions within trucking, they don’t account for even a fraction of positions filled by men.

The Biden administration launched the board in 2022. It was headed up by 16 women to try to recruit, retain and support more women in the field.

“America needs truck drivers like never before, yet women, half the American people, have long been underestimated and underrepresented behind the wheel and in jobs across this sector,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said at the time.

Trish Gropp, a member of the Nebraska Trucking Association Women’s Council, said targeted recruitment of women is necessary.

“The female population hasn’t been reached out to real heavily in the past,” she said. “I think it sheds some light that this industry doesn’t really have a lot of females in it. There are plenty of opportunities for women in the transportation industry.”

Gropp said the government initiatives to help recruit women are needed.

She also does her part locally to try to increase the number of women who learn about trucking opportunities.

“I work very closely with the Nebraska Trucking Association,” she said. “We have a women’s council that I’m one of the founding members of. We’ve been running for about four years now, and we try to do everything we can to educate and empower the new generation that’s coming into the workforce. We want to let them know when opportunities are available and how to get to those opportunities.”