With UK haulage doing its best to attract a more diverse range of people into its ranks, it’s keen to show that are more than well equipped to enjoy a long career in the industry. Well, this argument is now backed by studies of DfT data that clearly show that women aged between 20 and 29 have consistently outperformed their male counterparts in HGV training. 

The study was conducted by Pallet-Track, and it revealed that women in this age range have enjoyed higher HGV pass rates than men, year-on-year since 2010. As such, 67.9% of women in this age bracket successfully passed their practical test during this period, which compares favourable to the 63% of men who passed.

Women Represent A Major Key to Tackling the Driver Shortage 

Overall driver pass rates during the test period were at 58.7%, and analysis showed that if an equivalent number of women had taken their HGV test as men, there would now be just under 49,000 more qualified drivers on the road. This is almost equal to the RHA’s current estimation of the shortfall, which is said to sit at 50,000 drivers. 

Despite efforts to attract more female drivers into the industry, just 9.1% (8,731) of all HGV tests were completed by women. Additional information found in the DfT’s 2020 Domestic Road Freight Statistics showed that just 1% of all HGV drivers are women – a stat that has not budged since being included in this yearly report in 2016. 

Lots of Opportunities to Succeed For Women 

Speaking on the matter, Pallet-Track’s Chief Exec Caroline Greene had this to say…

“Sector offers lots of opportunities for women to succeed.Our research should be a real eye opener for the industry as it demonstrates the value of diversifying the logistics workforce. The results of the analysis show that Britain has the talent and skills to overcome any remaining driver shortages and the resources to future proof our workforce.

The majority of truck stop facilities are woefully inadequate and require major improvements. As such, we welcome the government’s recently-announced match funding initiative and hope that this will be a positive step forward for the industry. 

Education is another area where major improvements are needed if we are to inspire younger generations to enter the profession, particularly young women. Logistics plays a major role in all our lives and is the fifth largest employer in the UK, but we need to engage with schools more to demonstrate the breadth of careers that the industry can offer”.

Making HGV Driving an Attractive Proposition

Women have a lot to offer to the UK’s haulage industry, and at HGVC, we are fully behind moves to attract more drivers from this rich demographic. Of course, there is still work to do in terms of improving truckstop conditions, but the government has pledged to provide the necessary funding to make them safer and offer better facilities. 

We look forward to welcoming more women onto our industry-leading HGV licence acquisition programs that are delivered via our national network of training centres. 

To learn more about us and how we’re helping to support UK haulage, please take a few moments to browse our website. Alternatively, to get in touch with us, click ‘contact us’ or call 0330 818 8888, and our team will be delighted to speak to you about how we can meet your organisation’s HGV needs.