A driver for fuel distribution business, Lowes Petroleum is bucking the averages for Australia’s truck driving demographics, the company is proudly boasting.
Ahead of International Women’s Day later this week, Lowes have take the opportunity to highlight one of its star drivers, who is both younger than average and a woman.
Lowes points out that the average age of a truck driver in Australia is now standing at 48 years and along with this it turns out to be that only only three percent of the driver workforce is female.
One of Lowes star driver is 33 year old, Alicia Waddingham of Kerang in NSW, who is very definitely bucking the averages of the truck driving system.
Lowes Petroleum says it is actively recruiting women to the business and Alicia is one of a handful of female truck drivers delivering fuel to farms around Kerang .
Alicia, who is also a single mother has been delivering fuel for Lowes Petroleum for more than 12 months and driving trucks for the past 13 years.
“What I like best about being behind the wheel is the freedom,” Alicia said.
“Being out on the road and very much in control of my own day, listening to my own music. It’s like my own personal little office but on wheels – a moving office,” she said.
“Driving trucks is really like nothing else. It’s such a great job, because you’re not going to work and sitting in an office that doesn’t change. Even if you are seeing the same landscape every day it’s still somewhat different.”
In April 2023 advocacy group, Women in Trucking Australia kicked off the largest recruitment of female heavy vehicle drivers in Australia’s history with its pilot Foot in the Door, to get more women in the driver’s seat.
Alicia said you would only have to spend a day with her to see what a rewarding job driving is. Her favourite customers are those with dogs who greet her as she drives in to do her deliveries.
“Getting out on the farms is my most favourite part of the job,” she said.
“A typical day sees me starting at the yard, getting the truck ready, doing my paperwork, saying good morning to everyone in the yard.
“Once I have planned my day, I head out on the road and could go north, south, east or west depending on the delivery schedule. Generally, I go to the small towns, staying fairly local within the 100K radius of the depot.”
Alicia works three days a week and said being able to be home every night for her daughter Clara is what makes the job workable for her. She believes more women would be attracted to the industry if companies were as flexible as Lowes Petroleum.
“Clara is five years old, so it’s important I have a work life balance,” she said.
“The hardest thing for any single mum is having a job and a child and trying to juggle the two. My knock off time can be anywhere from 2pm or 5pm so it’s very manageable and that my schedule allows me to be home every night is amazing.
“I am seeing more women drivers on the road these days as well as driving headers on the farms, so the word is getting out that this is a good career for women,” Alicia concluded.
