Women’s Day is a national holiday in South Africa, unlike many other countries, where it is merely symbolic. The opportunity to celebrate workplace diversity is balanced by an awareness of industry-specific risks for women working in cargo and public transport.
In the trucking and logistics sector, women have developed beyond their traditional administrative and finance roles. Logistics engineers, specialist truck technicians, and drivers are now all roles where women are present, although they remain a minority.
The benefits are significant for those transport and freight companies who have embraced diversity in the driving role. Women can reduce operational risk by being more disciplined when driving and operate with greater mechanical sympathy.
Women at the helm
The demanding driving conditions of long-haul cargo transport in South Africa are unavoidable. When climbing or descending one of South Africa’s challenging mountain passes with a full load, the margin between overstressed transmissions, differentials, brakes, or powertrains becomes a real issue.
Women assess road conditions and traffic with greater caution and better awareness. There’s no value to having an ego in the cab. Overdriving a truck with brutal up- and downshifts, is a sure way to reduce transmission life. Even when hauling a full load, women drivers operate with mechanical sympathy and excellent shifting precision, allowing the truck’s controls to master and conserve momentum.
A more considered driving style can generate consistent cost savings. Gentler throttle action means lower fuel consumption. A softer touch and slicker coordination between shifter and clutch can be the difference between an expensive 18-speed transmission requiring intermittent repair or lasting for years.
Avoidable downtime isn’t something fleet managers can account for on a balance sheet. But everyone in the trucking and freight industry knows how expensive downtime is, especially when it’s traffic accident related – which is mostly avoidable. Female drivers are less likely to take risks in marginal situations, whether avoiding a narrowing overtaking gap – or ignoring on-board early warning sensors.
Making trucking safer – for drivers and owners
South Africa has a growing number of women truck drivers, proving the value of diverse driver rosters in an industry with a lot of operational risk.
Beyond their value as risk reducers, with a driving style that avoids collisions and limits mechanical wear, women also fulfil a valuable role for companies regarding empowering credentials. But what about the industry-specific hazards? South Africa can be a hostile environment for truck drivers, and those safety issues amplify for women.
Companies wishing to leverage all the benefits of employing or contracting with women drivers must use technology to enhance safety. How? Better route planning, more responsive rerouting, and superior telematics integration allow women at the wheel to have all the possible situational awareness to master their driving tasks.
Empowering with tech
GoMetro’s Bridge platform was developed to make logistics smarter, safer, more efficient and integrated. Women operating long-distance trucks depend on advanced telematics for their safety.
Features like Goefence, allow fleets to map hazard zones, which trigger alerts when a truck enters an identified high-risk area. Bridge’s Geofence is a powerful proactive safety feature for women drivers and fleet owners.
With Bridge, women owners and drivers can easily have all their telematics aggregated, organised and shareable on a single platform. That means better sub-contractor visibility and integration, making it easier for companies to choose and partner with women-owned fleets and drivers.
