Women slowly moving in on male-dominated industry

Women are playing an increasingly dominant role in the freight industry. And while they may account for just 20% of the industry’s employees, more and more are moving up the ranks and considering freight forwarding as a career, SA Association of Freight Forwarders’ Sue Wood told delegates at the October Transport Forum. “We are beginning to see pods of development. “Three female pilots (a totally female flight crew) flew a Boeing B777 freighter from Leipzig, via Bahrain to Singapore and back again via New Delhi.” Setjhaba Carriers situated at De Beers Kimberley mine, who run what is termed a load-andhaul operation on behalf of their parent company Unitrans and move massive quantities of ore, has become renowned for its women’s driver training programme that has graduated 13 qualified HGV female drivers since its inception. Recently 22-year-old Kelly Klaasen walked away with the Seafarer of the Year award. Wood said it was clear that women were starting to make their mark on an industry dominated by men.