Industry push to attract female drivers

Transport Women Australia, Victoria's Wodonga TAFE and Volvo Group Australia recently announced the roll-out of the new Women Driving Transport Careers program, a pilot training program that aims to increase the numbers of female truck drivers in this country.

Delivered by Wodonga TAFE's Transport Division, DECA (Driver Education Centre of Australia), the course will commence in late July, with the first wave of graduates to emerge at the end of August.

Students will undergo an intensive four weeks of training in metropolitan Melbourne, with the syllabus covering theory and plenty of practical aspects. Volvo Group Australia is supplying a prime mover for students to get invaluable behind-the-wheel experience.

According to DECA's National Transport Manager, Simon Macaulay, the program gives women interested in a career as a truck driver a convenient and valuable entry point.

"Wodonga TAFE has a mission to strengthen communities and industries through accessible and innovative learning, which is exactly what this training will achieve for women wanting to obtain a heavy vehicle truck licence," he said.

"It will give women the chance to get behind the wheel of a prime mover and work towards joining the heavy transport workforce as truck drivers, which is a skill in very high demand in Melbourne as well as throughout Australia."

While the program will bolster the ranks of female truck drivers, it will also help address an issue looming ever larger on the Australian trucking landscape, said Volvo Group Australia President and CEO, Peter Voorhoeve.

"Australia is standing on the precipice of a serious truck driver shortage, the effects of which will be felt far beyond the transport industry," he said.

"If the industry does not find ways to attract more drivers to the industry, we will all feel the pain in higher prices for the things that trucks move up and down our highways – food, clothing, construction materials, medical supplies and consumer goods, to name just a few.

"As the leading manufacturer of trucks in Australia, we take our role in the industry seriously, which is why we are constantly looking for new ways to grow the heavy transport sector workforce and champion greater diversity in the driver workforce."

Chair of Transport Women Australia Limited, Jacquelene Brotherton, said the partnership demonstrated how leaders in the heavy transport industry can be part of the solution to addressing the driver shortage.

"Finding pathways into the heavy transport industry can be daunting for people who have never had any experience with it, which is why the support being provided for this new training is so valuable," she said.

"Training to help gain a heavy vehicle licence provides just the opportunity that many women will no doubt have been looking for, and we are delighted to support the initiative."

Further reading:
DECA HC licence training
DECA HR licence training
DECA rollover stability course