A new organization called Females in Trucking has been formed with the goal of "Solving the OTR driver shortage ... one woman at a time."

According to its website, www.femalesintrucking.org, the group's mission is "to discover the profile of a female OTR driver, to identify millions of women who match that profile, and to connect those potential drivers to trucking executives who are facing a driver shortage that is going to get much worse in the next 20 years."
Women currently only make up about 5 percent of the nation's over-the-road drivers, a number that actually has doubled in the last 20 years. FIT blames the low number of women drivers on a number of factors, including the fact that most women don't know this is a career option available to them; that trucking companies don't understand how to recruit women drivers; that trucking companies don't organize their boards, dispatchers and driving teams in ways that encourage women to drive; and that trucking companies don't fully realize the benefits of using women drivers.
On the fledgling organization's board of directors is Ellen Voie, currently retention marketing manager for Schneider National and previously executive director of Trucker Buddy International, with trucking experience dating back to 1980 as traffic manager, dispatcher and freelance trucking writer.
Also involved in the organization is Atlanta-based company Taming Turnover, which helps motor carriers and other companies with recruiting and retention strategies.