NORTH COAST UNITRANS DRIVERS PARTICIPATE IN UKZN STUDY

The Unitrans Sugar and Agriculture KZN North Coast depots are cooperating in a University of KwaZulu-Natl (UKZN) study about women in truck driving jobs.  As part of the study members of the research team have interviewed and ridden with two Unitrans women drivers based on the North Coast.

Scott Naysmith, a spokesman for the research team says, “Our project is interested in the entry of women into the trucking profession as drivers.  The overall framework of the project is to study the impacts of HIV/AIDS on the trucking industry.  As part of these impacts, we are gathering data on the extent to which high mortality among male drivers is leading to increased employment of female drivers.  Another aspect is that we plan to detail how women's family lives are impacted by this job, and to highlight how employers have sought to address these challenges through family-friendly work arrangements.   

The first half of our research is concerned with a survey involving employers of female truck drivers, to understand these factors and their experiences with hiring women to this position.  The second half of our study will be interviews with female truck drivers, to better understand their experiences of working in this industry.  All of the study results, both quantitative and qualitative, will be put together in a freight industry policy brief, which will be disseminated across the industry as widely as possible.

North Coast Depot Manager Wayne Holmes has been liaising with the UKZN research team and has assisted them in gaining the necessary permissions to conduct their research.  Unitrans drivers who have participated in the project are Happiness Sibisi and Dudu Mncube.
 

Dudu Mncube, behind the wheel of a Unitrans vehicle, is one of two company drivers who have participated with a UKZN research project designed to understand the experience of women truck drivers and facilitate improvements to their lives by providing their findings to the truck transport industry.