Tag: women van drivers

Why More Women Are Joining the Transport Industry Amid Covid-19

Posted on by News Desk

Yesterday marked International Women’s Day.

Did you take a moment to celebrate the incredible women in your life?

Is It Time For More Women In The Transport Industry?

The pandemic, unfortunately, hasn’t helped in closing the gender gap—especially around pay and employment.

In fact, Covid-19 has impacted women’s jobs disproportionately.

Women have been hit harder by redundancy, business closures, and increased home responsibilities.

Many had to become full-time caregivers when schools shut down.

Male-Dominated vs. Female-Dominated Industries

Male-dominated fields saw hiring slowdowns during the pandemic.

But the impact on female-dominated industries has been staggering.

Sectors like beauty and weddings felt a major hit due to restrictions.

This shift may be why more women are now exploring careers as couriers.

When you think of a white van or delivery driver, do you picture a woman at the wheel?

Why not?

The culture is shifting, and Covid-19 is sparking that change.

Leading The Way In Gender Representation

This week, Scotland set an example in pushing for gender equality in transport.

M&H Carriers, a Scottish transport company, is working to improve gender representation.

Even though women make up 47% of the UK workforce, only 20% work in transport.

But M&H Carriers aims to change that.

Women hold over half of the senior roles at the company.

Their goal?

To break down stereotypes of transport as a male-only field.

They hope more women will begin to see it as a viable career.

The Arts Moving Into Transport

The Arts industry also faced huge setbacks due to Covid-19.

Many artists turned to the delivery industry, stepping into key worker roles.

For example, a trombonist took a job at Yodel.

She spoke of the respect she gained for delivery drivers’ hard work.

A violinist also joined the industry, delivering for Waitrose.

Despite qualifying for government grants, she couldn’t sit idle.

Her new role helped her stay motivated, and she even volunteered at a charity shop on weekends.

Delivery Work: Challenging But Rewarding

As many of you know, delivery driving isn’t easy.

The demands have only grown over the past year and show no signs of slowing.

Yet, we welcome more women to join this vital industry.

Let’s continue fighting for gender equality, together.

For any women considering the delivery field, remember:

You’ll need more than standard van insurance to get started.

Take a look here to see how we can help.

The Rise of White Van Woman

Posted on by News Desk

Last week, we reported on how dogs are becoming ever more ubiquitous in the passenger seat of white vans and taking on unpaid labour at the expense of your typical white van man.

If that isn’t bad enough, there’s more doom and gloom for your stereotypical WMV. 

While the reputation of the white van man is well known throughout the UK, it’s a fact that there is another force on the rise in our green and pleasant land.

White Van Woman is here, hear her roar! (Or at least hear her tell you to get your feet off the sodding table).

Back in 2017, a third of all vans were owned by women, but that was just the beginning.

Last year, the number of female van drivers surged by a whopping 52%, meaning that our trusty WMV could soon become an endangered species.

Cheaper van insurance for women

If that wasn’t bad enough, female van drivers pay less for their van insurance than men, sometimes by less than £1,000.

(They’re taking our jobs)!

“What is fuelling the increase in white van women?” I hear you ask.

As well as the obvious, that more women are working in what were historically male dominated industries, such as delivery and construction, more women are choosing to go self-employed, to give themselves the flexibility they need around childcare and emergency manicures (I may have made that last bit up). 

What are these women doing with their vans?

Women working in dog walking, care roles and cleaning are increasingly likely to choose a van as their primary mode of transport, as opposed to a more traditional choice of a little Fiat 500 or VW Beetle to get around in.

Not only that, a growing number of women are also choosing vans as their primary mode of transport to suit their home life – for all those surfers, cyclists and dog owners, it seems like a van is the perfect solution. 

Next thing we’ll know, the van makers will be offering added extras of pink fluffy seats or leopard print consoles, with extra space for handbag storage. (We don’t know why we’re continuing with these gender stereotypes – Mrs CVI knows more about football than any of us do and could out-drink any of us here by a long chalk, here at CVI towers).

Whatever the reason, I guess it was realistically only a matter of time. 

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