According to new data from the 2023 WIT Index, which recently was released by the Women In Trucking Association (WIT), an average 74.6% of human resources (HR) and talent management roles in transportation companies are held by women. The WIT Index is an industry barometer to benchmark and measure each year the percentage of women who make up critical roles in commercial freight transportation.

In addition, the 2023 WIT Index finds that approximately 48.6% of respondents report 50% to 89% of professionals in their company’s HR/Talent Management positions are women. Traditionally, the HR profession has been long-perceived as a female-oriented profession, primarily because of the skill sets requirement in the field, according to Jennifer Hedrick, WIT’s president and CEO. “Women are commonly considered to have a strong Emotional Intelligence (EI) score,” she said, “and in general tend to possess the critical skills required for this discipline, such as multitasking, leadership, planning, communication, and human relations.”

Initiated in 2016, the WIT Index is based upon reported statistics by companies in transportation, including for-hire trucking companies, private fleets, transportation intermediaries, railroads, ocean carriers, equipment manufacturers, and technology companies. Data involving the 2023 WIT Index was confidentially gathered from January through April of 2023 from 350 participating companies of various sizes operating in the trucking industry. Percentages are reported only as aggregate totals of respondents rather than by individual company.

Along with its traditional benchmark percentages among HR/talent management, leadership, and professional drivers in commercial freight transportation, WIT again this year has expanded its collection on the percentage of women to include operations, technicians, sales, and marketing.