The third annual Women with Drive Summit from Trucking HR Canada was another huge success. The Toronto event held on March 2nd at the Sheraton Toronto Airport Hotel and Conference Centre featured human resources, marketing and operations professionals and focused on strategies for recruiting, retaining and mentoring women in Canada’s trucking industry.
The event included industry experts across several panel discussions who discussed a wide range of issues on how the industry can attract, accommodate and empower more women. Not surprisingly, organizers and attendees agreed that the biggest barrier is still behind the wheel. Statistics Canada says just 3 percent of Canada’s drivers are women – a number that Trucking HR Canada and participants at Women With Drive would like to see increase.
OTA VP of Communication Marco Beghetto led a two-hour ‘Global Perspectives’ discussion and Q&A featuring five very successful career women from Sweden (Elin Engstrom, test driver, Scania), Denmark (Vibeke Theisel, driver), the UK (Jenny Tipping, driver-trainer, Manpower Logistics), Australia (Heather Jones, CEO Pilbara Heavy Haulage Girls) and New Zealand (Meryn Morrison, health & compliance manager, Regal Haulage). Each of the panelists discussed their early struggles as women in trucking and how over time they excelled in the industry. They also offered diverse perspectives on how to combat the driver shortage.
The Women with Drive event also included an opening address by Stephania Varalli, co-owner and co-CEO, Women of Influence organization and a highly entertaining and inspiring keynote luncheon Q&A with Mandy Rennehan, founder, Freshco.ca (a highly successful retail maintenance and construction company), among several other panel sessions.
As a national partnership-based organization, Trucking HR Canada promotes the provision of safe, secure, efficient, and professional trucking services in Canada. To learn more about ongoing projects and how you can get involved, log on to www.truckinghr.com.
All Pictures by P3 Peter Power Photography
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