Despite the many challenges faced by women in the freight industry, many are gaining skills and resources to advance their positions within the industry and are turning to freight entrepreneurship.
Hatty Sefafe worked at Edcon’s logistics department, assisting with communication between the suppliers and buyers. She also worked in warehousing for the retailer before the company had to retrench staff and she lost her job.
She noticed that, among women in the industry, due to their smaller numbers and a need for recognition from co-workers, they were often hesitant to share information readily, creating a sense of competitiveness among women co-workers.
But women in the industry also often provide support for one another.
Inspired to do something for herself, Sefafe started her own business, called LKLS, which initially focused on ferrying schoolchildren around.
From this she hopes her business will expand into logistics once again, including the ownership of trucks and trailers to haul containers across the country.
The hands-on approached she has adopted to empower herself led to Sefafe getting her Professional Driving Permit (PDP).
She is also in the process of acquiring a code-14 truck driving licence. She feels having some personal experience with road freight will improve her understanding of how to run a trucking business and that her empathy will help in understanding the struggles and issues faced by truck drivers.
“I do want to know.”
She says you can’t get angry with a driver if you don’t understand their real challenges.
Working for herself, Sefafe has found similar circumstances of competitiveness among other transporters carting kids around.
She also found it to be a line of business dominated by men.
“We are all trying; we should be like a team,” Sefafe says.
“The men have literally just ignored me.”
Change, though, is under way and the industry, once a male-only one, is fast opening to more women.
Sefafe attended the ‘Air Cargo Africa 2023’ conference and found that more and more women are using opportunities such as air cargo to network with other women and people in the industry.
“I found them lovely and helpful. I found them not reluctant to share information. I also found them open,” she says.
“I believe we can take up the challenge but women need to learn how to manage their time. My work eats into a lot of family time. Women interested in logistics should try it but should also find a happy medium. Once children come home, it’s very difficult for mothers.”
