The Numbers in Context
The New Zealand Trucking Association’s Transport Women initiative was launched against a striking set of statistics. Women represent 4.3 percent of the total female workforce in transport, postal, and warehousing combined — with 105,150 women employed across these sectors according to the 2018 Census. But within road transport specifically, only three percent of workers are female. Female truck drivers — the most visible category — increased 240 percent between 2013 and 2023, reaching six percent of the truck driving workforce. The growth rate is significant; the base is still very small.
What the Initiative Does
Transport Women is a campaign and network that connects, profiles, and celebrates women working across the full range of trucking roles — drivers, mechanics, dispatchers, administrators, logistics managers, and business owners. The objective is to increase both visibility and professional connection: visibility so that young women considering careers can see that women work in trucking and what those careers look like; professional connection so that women already in the industry have a community of peers rather than operating in isolation as the only woman in their depot or team.
Carol McGeady, NTA Chief Operating Officer, captured the industry’s perspective: “What stands out about the women in our industry is their professionalism and resilience.” Resilience, in this context, is doing real work — navigating an industry that was designed for and largely operated by men, where equipment, culture, and advancement pathways have historically not been designed with women in mind.
The Barriers That Remain
The challenges identified through the Transport Women initiative are consistent with those faced by women in other male-dominated industries: isolation as a minority team member, outdated stereotypes about capability and appropriateness, male-designed equipment that does not fit female body types well, limited advancement opportunities, and misconceptions among clients and counterparts about professional competence. None of these are immovable — they are the product of industry culture and design choices that can change.
Why This Matters for Construction
The construction and transport industries are deeply intertwined — materials, equipment, waste, and personnel move between sites daily on commercial vehicles. The workforce pipeline challenges facing transport closely mirror those in construction: an aging male-dominated workforce, a long tail of skills shortages, and a growing gap between the demographic profile of current workers and the profile of available labour. Industries that successfully broaden their recruitment base — including by genuinely welcoming women — will fill that gap more effectively than those that do not.
