Freight industry reflects on racial bias amid national wave
Following the George Floyd incident, the U.S. freight industry has begun to examine its own racial bias issues. Black drivers face systemic barriers in financing, networking, and hiring, with industry giants responding differently, and the path to diversity remains long and arduous.
Michael Ware, who has 23 years of experience driving independent refrigerated trucks, saw a problem in the trucking industry while attending an industry trade show.
The private trucks on display were expensive and well-equipped—and all the owners were white drivers. Ware isthe founder of the Facebook group "Black Truckers Union", and he wondered whether Black drivers had the same access to financing as white drivers. According to Ellen Voie, president of the Women in Trucking Association, citing a September 2019 survey of 900 long-haul trucking companies,the surveyfound that white drivers make up about 77% of long-haul drivers.
Ware told Transport Dive that networking, training, and recruiting are also dominated by white people, and Black drivers are often overlooked in job searches and access to information. He said Black drivers frequently receive racist comments directed at them over CB radios.
In 2014, a frustrated Ware founded the Facebook group to counter what he calls the "old boys' network" in the U.S. trucking industry. Ware says networking is crucial, and Black drivers seem to be excluded from discussions among independent drivers about jobs, good routes, and other topics. The Facebook page helps Black drivers "learn to drive the right way," teaching them knowledge both inside and outside the industry that goes beyond the steering wheel and brakes, Ware said.
"It's not going to change overnight. It's changing slowly."
Michael Ware
Founder of Black Truckers Union
But Ware knows things won't change overnight.
"It's not going to change overnight," Ware said. "It's changing slowly."
Fleets react on social media and beyond
After the killing of George Floyd on May 25, the nation re-examined its values. Companies began to assess the impact of racism—whether systemic or otherwise—on corporate culture.
Some fleets and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) issued statements condemning racism and violence. UPSsupported an anti-lynching bill, and pledged support for civil rights organizations. This is not the usual social media content from UPS's public affairs account. Within weeks, UPS's public affairs department had posted tweets about grants, small businesses, COVID-19, trade, and women-owned businesses.
In the past, the U.S. typically left most murder cases to the states. Butthe proposed bill H.R. 35, introduced by Representative Bobby Rush, aims to combat lynching. According to Merriam-Webster, lynching is defined as "to put to death (as by hanging) by mob action without legal approval or permission." According to the NAACP, lynching was often used after the Civil War to spread terror in Black communities. The bill states: "Between 1882 and 1968, at least 4,742 people, primarily African Americans, were reported lynched in the United States." The bill passed the House by a vote of 410 to 4.
.@UPSurges swift passage of the federal Emmett Till Antilynching Act, and we support Georgia's immediate passage of hate crime legislation.
— UPS Public Affairs (@UPSPolicy)June 10, 2020
UPS pledged to take supportive measures. The company said it would provide $3.2 million to support employment, education, small business, advocacy, and reform programs, in partnership with its longtime partners the National Urban League, the NAACP, and the United Negro College Fund. The company also pledged 1 million hours of volunteer service by UPS employees worldwide to support mentoring and educational programs in underserved Black communities.
FedEx, one of the top ten contract fleets in the U.S., was the only one to answer Transport Dive's three basic questions about diversity: What percentage of executives are people of color? What about the board? And what percentage of the overall workforce?
"Women make up 23% of FedEx's global management employees, while minorities make up 37% of U.S. management employees."
Jonathan Lyons
FedEx spokesperson
"Currently, 49% of our team identifies as African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native, or other," said FedEx spokesperson Jonathan Lyons. "The FedEx board includes 13 directors, of whom 4 are women and 4 are of diverse ethnicity. Women make up 23% of FedEx's global management employees, while minorities make up 37% of U.S. management employees."
Lyons said that among other efforts, FedEx has multiple employee-led business resource groups that "help build connections, build community, and foster an appreciation for diversity and culture."
XPO sent Transport Divea link to CEO Bradley Jacobs' statement from early June。
The restof the top ten contract fleetsdid not provide comment. J.B. Hunt, Knight-Swift, YRC Worldwide, Schneider, and Landstar did not respond by the deadline. Old Dominion Freight Line responded but declined to comment. TFI International responded but did not provide comment by the deadline.
How to achieve diversity
Can social media posts and LinkedIn statements solve diversity and racism in the trucking industry?
Ellen Voie, president of the Women in Trucking Association, says if fleets want to recruit Black employees, fleet leaders need to look at the composition of their recruiting teams.
"They need African American recruiters," Voie told Transport Dive. "(Applicants) need to feel comfortable having a conversation."
Fleets and OEMs also need to research where potential applicants will be. In her experience, Voie has found that many companies don't fully understand how to recruit women. One example she gave was a truck show Voie attended where an advertisement showed a woman waiting at home for her husband to return.
"They need to recruit where people are, not where they think (applicants) are."
Ellen Voie
President of Women in Trucking Association
Demographic interest research might help. Voie says 80% of female applicants say they hold a motorcycle license. She suggests recruiters go to motorcycle shows to find drivers.
"They need to recruit where people are, not where they think (applicants) are," Voie said.
The driver shortage is helping recruiters boost diversity. Fleets' demand for drivers continues to increase, and the American Trucking Associations (ATA) puts theannual shortage at 61,000 drivers。
, and there are tens of thousands of fleets. Unlike other industries, trucking is extremely competitive and diverse. The U.S. trucking industry includes at least 200,000 independent owner-operators who are their own bosses, plus millions of others driving various trucks for companies.
According to U.S. Department of Labor data, of the 3.6 million drivers in the U.S. in 2019, 38.6% were Black or Hispanic. That's a 45.1% increase from 2001, when 26.6% of U.S. drivers were Black or Hispanic. Among the larger number of truck drivers, 25.8% of heavy industrial truck or tractor-trailer drivers are Black,according to the Department of Labor's website。
The Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn't have a specific category for fleet managers, but among "first-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers," 19.4% are Black and 72.2% are white.
Voie cited research conducted by her organization in partnership with FreightWaves,released in September 2019. The study focused on long-haul trucking. A total of 900 carriers were interviewed. The study found that 77% of drivers are white, 16.3% are Black, 3.2% are Asian, and 20.9% are Hispanic. Female drivers make up 10.2%, she said. The racial figuresare roughly proportional to the Census Bureau's estimates of the total U.S. population, but women are far from proportional, as they make up 50.8% of the total population.
Ware says he is very focused on financing and networking opportunities. He says Black drivers can't get the same types of truck loans that white drivers with similar credit profiles can. He wants the industry to work on credit issues and hiring opportunities without regard to a person's race.
"If my credentials prove I'm a good driver, then what's the problem?" Ware said.
This story has been updated with revised figures from FedEx regarding board composition.