Women In Trucking will begin monitoring the number of women serving in the trucking industry with the help of the University of Memphis, the group announced. The goal is to track women in all aspects of the industry from drivers to board room members and use the information to attract more women to the profession.

At the University of Memphis, the Department of Civil Engineering, lead by Stephanie Ivey and her students, will be tasked with creating an index to monitor the number of women currently in trucking. The university hosts the Southeast Transportation Workforce Center which is part of the National Network for Transportation Workforce.

“The work we are undertaking in partnership with Women In Trucking is an important effort to establish baseline data regarding the number of women in the trucking industry,” said Ivey. “This will provide insight for the SETWC’s work in identifying areas with the greatest needs in terms of diversity.”

With the data, WIT and Ivey hope to come up with strategies to attract more women to the transportation profession and increase the percentage of women in the trucking industry.

“There are companies who aren’t even tracking their diversity efforts to include women and minorities,” said Ellen Voie, president and CEO of WIT. “We are pleased to find a partner with Dr. Ivey and her students to help us measure the progress of our efforts.”