Women truck drivers: the real numbers and how to hire them
Carriers keep saying they can't find drivers, yet women still fill fewer than one in twelve driving jobs. That gap is a hiring pool most small fleets have never deliberately recruited from.
Written by Gabriel Gonzalez
Women in trucking by the numbers
Women truck drivers hold about 7.7% of U.S. driver/sales and truck driving jobs, roughly 276,000 people, in 2025 BLS data, and about 10% of CDL seats at smaller fleets in the 2026-27 WIT Index. Carriers that remove the training, safety, and parking barriers women name employ more of them.
Most of what gets written about women in trucking is celebration. I'd rather look at it as a hiring question: if one group is badly underrepresented in a job you struggle to fill, the reasons it stays away are worth knowing, and some of them are within your control.
I have spent more than 22 years at Simplex, including nearly 16 as COO, and I look at every seat in a fleet as revenue. This guide covers what the numbers really say, how women have already changed the industry, what keeps more of them out of the cab, and what a small carrier can do about it.
The full briefing, read aloud
8 chapters. Select one to jump to it.
Generated with AI text-to-speech from this article's key insights, in order, rather than reading it word for word. Chapter times come from a transcript of the audio. The article itself was written and reviewed by Gabriel Gonzalez.
Key takeaways
Fewer than 1 in 12 jobs
BLS counted women in 7.7% of the 3.58 million driver/sales worker and truck driver jobs in its 2025 averages, up from 5.1% in 2015.
Fleet surveys read higher
The 2026-27 WIT Index found women in 10% of CDL driving jobs at fleets under 500 employees and about 7% at fleets over 5,000.
Women already run much of the office
Women hold about 45.5% of dispatcher roles, 44% of safety roles, and 31% of C-suite roles at companies in the WIT Index.
Programs change the numbers
ATRI found women were 8.1% of drivers at carriers with women-specific recruiting and retention initiatives and 5.0% at carriers without them.
Training and safety come first
FMCSA's advisory board recommended that trainers and trainees never share a sleeper berth and that drivers can report harassment outside the company.
Women-owned DBEs must now prove disadvantage
Since October 3, 2025, women-owned firms are no longer presumed disadvantaged under USDOT's DBE program. Each owner must show it individually.
In this articleContents
What percentage of truck drivers are women?
About 7.7%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In its 2025 Current Population Survey averages, women held 7.7% of the 3.58 million jobs in the group BLS calls driver/sales workers and truck drivers, or roughly 276,000 women.
| Year | Women's share | Employed in the group |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 5.1% | 3.47 million |
| 2019 | 6.7% | 3.61 million |
| 2022 | 8.1% | 3.54 million |
| 2023 | 6.9% | 3.55 million |
| 2024 | 7.9% | 3.58 million |
| 2025 | 7.7% | 3.58 million |
The share rose from about 5% a decade ago to around 8%, then stopped climbing. Read 2025 with some care: BLS didn't collect October 2025 data because of the federal government shutdown, so its 2025 averages cover 11 months and aren't strictly comparable with other years.
Why fleet surveys show a higher share
The Women In Trucking Association's 2026-27 WIT Index, released August 27, 2026, asks companies directly. Fleets with fewer than 500 employees reported that 10% of their CDL drivers are women, fleets with 500 to 4,999 employees about 10.5%, and fleets with more than 5,000 about 7%, roughly flat from the previous index.
The two sources measure different things. BLS surveys households, and its group includes delivery and driver/sales jobs. The WIT Index counts only CDL holders driving medium- and heavy-duty trucks, reported by about 210 organizations that chose to answer the survey.
How have women shaped the trucking industry?
So far, more from the office and through federal policy than from the driver's seat. In the 2026-27 WIT Index, women hold about 31% of C-suite roles, 37.5% of supervisory roles, 45.5% of dispatcher roles, 44% of safety roles, and 76.5% of HR and talent roles at responding companies, but only 2.5% of diesel technician jobs.
They also changed what FMCSA works on. The 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law required the agency to create the Women of Trucking Advisory Board (WOTAB), chartered on February 11, 2022. The board's December 2023 report made 37 recommendations, and FMCSA's January 2025 report to Congress, which ended the board's term, described the response:
- Disqualification reminder. A December 7, 2023 enforcement notice reminded states that a driver who uses a commercial vehicle to commit a felony, including felony sexual assault, must be disqualified. Under 49 CFR 383.51, that is one year for a first conviction and life for a second.
- A harassment working group and study. FMCSA formed a working group on sexual assault and sexual harassment and started a broader study of harassment across drivers' careers.
- Training and parking. The agency said it was developing an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on harassment awareness in driver training, and working with the Federal Highway Administration on safe truck parking.
Safety records point the same way. ATRI reports that its 2022 study on predicting truck crash involvement found women truck drivers safer than their male counterparts and involved in fewer crashes.
Why are there so few women truck drivers?
Because several of the job's hardest parts weigh more on women. ATRI's June 2024 research, built on input from thousands of drivers, carriers, and training schools, named industry image and perception, finishing CDL training, truck parking shortages and restroom access, and gender harassment and discrimination among the main challenges.
- Training. WOTAB pointed to childcare and travel to school as obstacles during CDL training, and asked carriers to pay women a living wage during training and onboarding because many support a household on one income.
- Harassment. FMCSA's Crime Prevention for Truckers Study found women drivers particularly vulnerable to crimes of a sexual nature and more likely to be harassed by another truck driver or a trainer. Women were two to four times as likely as non-minority men to report being touched without permission, and many incidents go unreported.
- Parking and restrooms. WOTAB asked states, carriers, shippers, and receivers to provide safe parking, and asked carriers, shippers, and receivers to make sure drivers can use a restroom privately and safely.
Several of these barriers are personal-safety problems on the road. Our guide to personal safety on long-haul trips covers parking choices and in-cab precautions for any driver.
How can a small fleet recruit and keep women truck drivers?
Remove the specific reasons women leave, then say so in your job ads. ATRI found that carriers with women-specific recruiting and retention initiatives had a higher share of women drivers, 8.1%, than carriers without them, 5.0%.
Make training safe by design
WOTAB's training recommendations translate directly into policy: trainers and trainees never share sleeping quarters during over-the-road training, sleeper berths and hotel rooms included; a trainer is on duty whenever the trainee is; both agree on expectations before they start; and either can step away from a threatening situation. New drivers still need federal entry-level driver training before their CDL test, so ask the school how it handles the same issues.
Put harassment rules in writing
Federal equal pay law applies from your first employee, and federal laws against sex discrimination and harassment apply once you have 15 or more, according to the EEOC. The harasser can be a co-worker, a supervisor, or a customer, which covers the people at a shipper's dock. Check your state's law as well.
Write down how a driver reports a problem, who investigates, and how fast. WOTAB recommended a reporting channel outside the normal chain of command and immediate investigation of every report.
Plan parking, restrooms, and home time
Build safe overnight parking into each trip plan instead of leaving it to the driver at the end of a long day, and raise restroom access with shippers and receivers before a driver is turned away. Predictable home time and pay matter to every driver; our truck driver retention strategies cover pay, detention, and dispatch.
Hire on the same standard
Recruiting women doesn't change who is qualified. Every driver goes through the same FMCSA gates, from the Clearinghouse query to the road test, laid out in our truck driver onboarding guide.
Do women-owned trucking companies get special status?
Only for government work. A women-owned carrier follows the same FMCSA rules as any other, and two federal programs can help it compete for public contracts.
- SBA's Women-Owned Small Business program. The business must be small under SBA size standards and at least 51% owned and controlled by women who are U.S. citizens, with women managing day-to-day operations and making long-term decisions. Certification opens set-aside federal contracts in industries SBA lists by NAICS code, and nothing in the private sector.
- USDOT's Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program. Since an interim final rule effective October 3, 2025, made final effective September 25, 2026, women-owned firms are no longer presumed disadvantaged. Every owner must show social and economic disadvantage through an individual personal narrative, and firms certified under the old presumption have to be reevaluated.
If you are starting a carrier, ownership certifications come after the operating basics. Our guide on how to start a trucking company covers the registrations, insurance, and authority you need first.
How Simplex helps you hire and keep more drivers
A wider hiring pool only helps if every new driver is qualified on day one and your company is set up to run.
Qualified from the first load
Our driver qualification file service builds and maintains each driver's file, so a new hire is road-ready and audit-ready.
Compliance as a program
Our compliance programs cover driver files, drug and alcohol testing, hours of service, and CSA monitoring for growing fleets.
Start your own carrier
Planning a women-owned carrier? We help you get your trucking business started with the registrations and filings in the right order.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of truck drivers are female?+
How many female truck drivers are there?+
Are women safer truck drivers?+
Do women truck drivers earn the same as men?+
Can a women-owned trucking company get set-aside contracts?+
Where this information comes from
The statistics, survey results, and federal actions in this article come from the sources below, checked on October 19, 2026.
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1
BLS — Current Population Survey, Table 11: Employed persons by detailed occupation and sex (2025)
Women's 7.7% share of 3.58 million driver/sales workers and truck drivers; 11-month 2025 averages. Earlier years from BLS's archived annual tables.
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2
BLS — Current Population Survey, Table 39: Median weekly earnings by occupation and sex (2025)
Median weekly earnings of full-time driver/sales workers and truck drivers: $795 for women, $1,076 for men.
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3
Women In Trucking Association — 2026-27 WIT Index Data (August 27, 2026)
Women's share of CDL drivers by fleet size and of leadership, dispatch, safety, HR, and technician roles.
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4
ATRI — Strategies for Mitigating Women Truck Driver Challenges (June 18, 2024)
Main challenge areas, pay parity finding, and 8.1% vs 5.0% women drivers at carriers with and without women-specific initiatives.
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5
ATRI — Career Pathways and Higher Income Potential for Women (one-pager)
ATRI's summary of its 2022 crash prediction finding that women truck drivers are involved in fewer crashes.
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6
FMCSA — Women of Trucking Advisory Board Recommendations Report to Congress
WOTAB's charter and 37 recommendations, FMCSA's actions in response, and the board's January 15, 2025 end.
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7
Federal Register — Study of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment in the CMV Industry (February 8, 2024)
Findings of FMCSA's Crime Prevention for Truckers Study on harassment of women drivers.
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8
Federal Register — DBE and ACDBE Program Revisions, final rule (September 25, 2026)
Finalizes the October 3, 2025 removal of race- and sex-based presumptions; owners show disadvantage individually.
Written by
Gabriel Gonzalez
Chief Revenue Officer, Simplex Group
Chief Revenue Officer at Simplex Group, with more than 22 years at the company, including nearly 16 years as Chief Operating Officer. His background combines revenue strategy with deep operational experience, giving him a strong perspective on how compliance, risk, permits, cash flow, and operational readiness affect a carrier's ability to grow profitably.
Published · Updated
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The drivers you need may be the ones you never recruited
Women are still fewer than one in twelve drivers, and the reasons are specific: training conditions, harassment, parking, and restrooms. A small fleet that fixes those, and says so, is recruiting from a pool its competitors ignore.
If you want help keeping every new hire qualified, or setting up a carrier of your own, talk to our team.