by FleetOwner | Sponsored Content, on Oct 06, 2026
The most recent WIT Index shows that women leaders are stepping up in the trucking industry. But ladies are leaving the maintenance bays and growth in women drivers stalls.
A trucking industry trade show or conference looks much different than it did 10, and even five, years ago. More women enter the industry with each passing year, which means more women at conferences, more women behind a desk, and more women in the corner office.
While I wish it were true that women were filling trucking industry roles across the board, the Women in Trucking WIT Index, which records gender inclusion data for the industry, indicates that some roles are recruiting women more steadily than others.
Below is a snapshot of the most current WIT Index results (2026/2027) compared to the most recent (2024/2025).
Comparing This Year’s WIT Index to Last Year’s
The good news is that the percentage of women is growing in multiple trucking industry roles. The bad news is that some roles have seen no increase in women or—even worse—have seen women exit altogether.
Let’s talk about the good news first.
More women have C-suite titles this year compared to last. On average, women make up 31% of C-suite executives in trucking; this is up 3% from the average of 28% in the previous WIT Index.
Additionally, more women are becoming trucking leaders. Women now make up 37.5% of company leaders in the industry compared to 34.5% at the time of the last WIT Index.
According to the 2026/2027 WIT Index, more women are wearing headsets. The largest increase of the year is in the percentage of women that make up dispatcher roles. Women make up 45.5% of dispatch roles in 2026 compared to the last Index at 38.5%.
Safety roles also saw a significant increase. Women now make up 44% of safety roles in the industry compared to 38.5% from the previous WIT Index.
One metric that’s interesting to see is the increase of women in human resources and talent management roles. These roles are dominated by women across multiple industries, with a national average between 65 and 75%, depending on the source. The WIT Index of 2024/2025 indicated that women made up 74.5% of these roles in the industry. The latest Index shows that women make up 76.5% of human resources and talent management roles in the industry.
Now for the not-so-good news…
The industry is not doing a better job of making an inclusive environment for professional women drivers. The latest Index indicated the percentage of women drivers stayed the same at 9.5% compared to the previous year. This is about 2% lower than WIT Indexes have indicated in the past. While this number is stagnant, at least it isn’t decreasing.
While who these women choose to drive for speaks more to specific companies, the Index showed that women drivers are moving away from medium-to-large enterprises (companies with 500 to 4,999 employees) to major-to-giant enterprises (companies with more 5,000 or more employees). The previous Index revealed that only 5% worked for giant enterprises and 12.5% worked at medium-to-large enterprises.
And for the bad news…
The percentage of women serving on boards of directors decreased to 29%, down from 29.5% in the previous Index. While a half percentage point might not be enough to sound the alarm, it’s worth taking a look at our own organizations to see if we can prevent decreases like these in the future.
The worst drop of percentage of women in trucking roles is that of a technician. This year’s WIT Index found that women make up 2.5% of technicians in the industry. Last year, that number was 4%.
What Does This Mean for Women in the Trucking Industry?
The increase of women in leadership roles and in the C-suite should be seen as a positive by everyone who works in the industry. The benefits of women in leadership roles is backed by the data.
Bloomberg Intelligence found that “companies with more women on boards and in leadership roles outperform peers” and draw annual returns that are 2-5% higher than peer companies with less gender diverse boardrooms. A report from BoardReady found that “companies with more than 30 percent of board seats occupied by women delivered better year-over-year revenue in 11 of the top 15 S&P 500 sectors than their less-gender-diverse counterparts.” Other studies and reports determine similar results.
What’s troubling is the lack of increase in women drivers and the decrease of women in technician roles.
Ensuring these roles are desirable for women is the responsibility of the industry as a whole. While organizations like Women in Trucking do a great job of advancing awareness, each company should do its part to draw women into these roles—including advocating for the investment of safe truck parking and more female-friendly truck stop environments.
Companies with maintenance shops should also ensure women feel welcome by providing gender-specific jumpsuits and additional provisions, such as a women-only restroom.
The women in this industry want to be part of it for years to come. It’s the job of those of us already in the industry — women and men, alike — to ensure it becomes even more welcoming and more desirable for those women who are curious about joining.
Related Articles
Like this kind of content?
As a member of the Women In Trucking Association, stay on top of emerging trends and business issues impacting transportation and logistics; learn the importance of gender diversity in the workplace and the need for more women drivers; and see best practices in encouraging the employment of women in the trucking industry. Join today! Learn More
