WoMAN power against the driver shortage
MAN Truck & Bus’s WoMAN workshop brought together seven women who are convinced that they have found their dream job as truck drivers. But also want to ensure that their needs are not only heard, but can also be directly incorporated into the job.
“We are systemically important,” the seven female professional drivers and participants in the MAN workshop session agree. “But we also have to prove ourselves every day and fight for acceptance in our own industry,” says Christina Scheib, who also publicly campaigns for a different image of female drivers. At just 2.7 per cent, the proportion of female professional drivers in Germany is currently still very low. So it is all the more important to let the women who have already found their place behind the wheel have their say. This is an important step towards also adapting the transportation industry to the needs of female drivers. How does the profession become more attractive for women? What role does the vehicle play in this? Questions that the WoMAN workshop by MAN Truck & Bus wanted to get to the bottom of with the help of seven active female professional drivers.
The conversation between the women in their early 20s to mid-40s who were sitting together in the MAN pavilion developed quickly, and similarities soon emerged. Everyone in the session agreed that they had found their dream job. Nevertheless, there is no reason to gloss over or glorify the less pleasant sides of the job, which all those present are aware of. The MAN team from the areas of Engineering and Design, led by psychologist Dr Sigrun Weise, MAN Market Research and Trucker’s World by MAN, witnessed a very open and constructive exchange. The women also openly and clearly addressed sensitive issues such as hygiene, the need for security, working hours, payment or the interaction between men and women here. The discussions were very interesting for all parties, because the female drivers all work in different transportation industries, surely have different daily routines and also drive different trucks.
“To feel comfortable in a company as a female driver, the whole package must be right. It’s not only the truck provided that counts here, but also the fact that male colleagues accept you.” And Jennifer Blum is not alone in saying this. Angie Doll also had problems at first with finding a boss who even trusted her to be able to control a truck and an excavator with confidence. She has now found the right boss and developed the necessary self-confidence to make her contribution to the structural change. The 23-year-old, who originally wanted to study medicine after graduating from secondary school, is now taking her training certificate.
Hygiene, safety, storage space – women’s wishes
The designers and developers from MAN listened carefully and noted down comments on the feel, materials, everyday life in the cockpit and lack of storage areas, drinks holders or sockets. “We record everything, even if obstacles such as high costs for a truck driver’s licence, long, unpaid downtimes or a lack of medical care on the road cannot be solved by a company like MAN,” says Sigrun Weise. But all the information is important because too little is still known about the overall situation of female drivers.
Carolin Schütt from the MAN design team also felt inspired by meeting the female drivers and is impressed by their creative ideas: “Each of these meetings offers so much inspiration, so many new creative ideas, and the great emotion of having started something that can become even bigger. Pieces of the puzzle come together to form a larger network, and an exchange begins that is so enriching for everyone.”
And the female drivers themselves?
Above all, they would like to see more acceptance within the industry, but also from society. In order for these similarities to come to light, talking to each other is particularly important to the women, and they would like to see more meetings like the MAN workshop, about which they are enthusiastic.
“Here in this session, I can talk openly, feel understood and have the feeling of making an important contribution,”
says Cindy Schneppe.
She confirming that “I would come to you again and again.” The MAN team as well as Trucker’s World are delighted with this confirmation. At the end of the day, it is clear that the club will continue to take every opportunity to repeatedly engage in an exchange with female truck drivers, but also with male drivers and its members, so as to be able to respond to their needs and wishes in the best possible way. The findings of the WoMAN workshop will in any case be incorporated into future product developments.
