UD and Visy Logistics pair to promote women in trucking

Just before the world marked International Women's Day on Tuesday, March 9, UD Trucks Australia delivered a brace of new UD Croner PD 25 280 curtainsider trucks to Visy Logistics, where they were enthusiastically received by recent graduates of Visy's Female Drivers Trainee Program.

Visy said the six new Croner curtainsiders were purchased for their reliability and fuel efficiency, among other reasons, while the company was proud to be handing the vehicles over to their newly trained female drivers.

Both UD and Visy have made a commitment to diversity in the workplace and believe investing in female drivers makes a very positive contribution to the trucking industry as a whole.

It's a subject that dear to the heart of UD Trucks Australia Vice President, Sales, Lauren Downs.

"We were thrilled to hear about the fantastic Female Drivers Trainee Program by Visy Logistics and are extremely humbled and proud it selected UD Trucks to be part of the initiative," she said.

"We would like to pass on a very warm welcome to the industry to the graduates, and hope they enjoy the new UDs as much as we do."

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The new trucks were delivered at a handover hosted by CMV Dandenong on Wednesday, March 3, where the six new drivers were fully briefed on their new vehicles before taking the wheel.

All six women are new to the trucking industry and recently participated in a fully paid, four-week intensive driver training course to obtain their Heavy Rigid (HR) licence, as part of the Visy Logistics Female Driver Trainee Program.

Knowing how important women are to their business, Visy Logistics invested in the training to give the drivers everything they need to succeed. Visy Logistics' Glen Fulton said the women will go on to be a great asset to the business.

"I am extremely impressed with the women's driving skill set; this is exactly what the business needs – reliable and passionate individuals who will thrive in their roles," he said.

"Driver shortages are an issue across the industry and we want to attract the best potential candidates to Visy Logistics. And then, once we have the best drivers, we want to keep them here. It's part of our long-term recruitment and retention strategy."

Part of that strategy has led to the creation of Visy's Female Driver Trainee Program, which specifically seeks to attract a potential candidate pool who may not have considered a career like this previously.

Women are a largely untapped source of talent within the transport, logistics and supply chain industry, and a resource that increasing numbers of savvy operators are now hoping to utilise.