The National Transportation Institute (NTI) is partnering with the Women In Trucking Association (WIT) to facilitate the data collection and analysis of the WIT Index.
The Index is an annual survey of trucking companies that tracks the percentage of women working as professional drivers and in management positions within the trucking industry.
“Our collaboration with Women In Trucking on the WIT Index has become a passion project for me and the members of our team at NTI,” Leah Shaver, Chief Operating Officer of NTI said in a release. “We launched the 2019 survey earlier this year, and I would strongly encourage every company that employs truck drivers in our industry to participate in the WIT Index. Opportunities are expanding for women across the industry,and one of the key long-term solutions to the driver shortage will be the further expansion of the employment of women at motor carriers,” Shaver explained.
“The response by carriers to the brief list of survey questions is the critical first step in the process of our work with the WIT Index. The data NTI collects from carriers will allow us to measure progress, identify best practices and continue to benchmark standards in our industry,” stated Shaver.
The partnership began in 2016 when Ellen Voie, the President and CEO of WIT, began to collect data on employment trends for women in the trucking industry. At no cost to WIT, NTI manages the collection and analysis of the survey, which has had a growing number of participants each year.
“We have seen first-hand the increased participation of women in all areas of trucking throughout the 12 years that the Women In Trucking Association has been in existence. Quantifying the growth of women within the workforce of the trucking industry is one of the most important tasks that we have as an association,’’ Voie said. “We are very grateful to be able to call upon the expertise of the National Transportation Institute for the 2019 update to the WIT Index. Once again this year, NTI is donating its time and services to facilitate the survey, tabulate the results and provide WIT with the kind of trend analysis that helps our association in planning some of its key initiatives. The pro bono work that NTI performs on the WIT Index is a very important and generous contribution to our association and to the industry.”
Shaver is again overseeing all aspects of the data collection and analysis of the WIT Index and has emphasized that, as always, confidentiality is guaranteed for carriers participating in the survey.
“The WIT Index allows us to accurately track progress and identify trends and best practices by fleets nationwide,” Shaver said. “The top issue plaguing every trucking company today is enough qualified people. We’re operating at a historical low unemployment in the U.S., and there are more jobs than workers to fill them.”
The 2019 WIT Index Survey will run through April 8, 2019. The survey can be accessed here.