TRANSPORT
Accelerating women in transport Lafarge South Africa and Volvo Trucks South Africa have joined forces with other stakeholders to launch the AccelerateHer initiative to accelerate women-owned truck operations in the country. Ten women from KwaZulu-Natal will be selected for the pilot phase of the project, with the intention to replicate and grow it in phases in other areas throughout the country. This ground-breaking initiative is aimed at increasing the number of female owner-drivers rendering a service to Lafarge operations in the area. The successful applicants will receive intensive three-year training through the Commercial Transport Academy (CTA) as part of Volvo Trucks’ Iron Women heavy commercial driver training programme. The Iron Women programme, which has been running since 2019, will teach the participants how to operate trucks safely, profitably and efficiently, enabling them to ultimately receive their commercial driver qualification.
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The participants will also undergo intensive business acumen training to empower them as owner-drivers, with a focus on aspects like technology, finance, entrepreneurship, business and road transport management, as well as labour legislation and HR practices. They will also be professionally mentored throughout the programme to ensure that they have every chance of success once they gain their qualifications. Once qualified, the new female owner-drivers will be incorporated in the Lafarge KZN operations as active operators.
Another step towards economic inclusion “We believe that given the correct resources and support, these women-owned transport businesses
