Workplace Diversity and Inclusion Checklist

Quarterly diversity and inclusion workflow for a motor carrier — typically owned by HR or the Safety Director with input from recruiting, dispatch, and the shop. Covers leadership commitment, driver recruiting, training, policies, termin...

Use this workflow
1

Leadership Commitment

  1. Publish the CEO's D&I statement fleet-wide

    • Distribute through the ELD driver-app inbox (Motive, Samsara, Geotab) so OTR drivers see it on the next login, plus terminal break-room postings for shop and yard staff. A safety-meeting email alone misses the 70%+ of the workforce that lives in the cab.

  2. Add D&I targets to the annual operating plan

    • Tie targets to operational metrics the leadership team already reviews — driver retention by demographic group, women-driver headcount, veteran-hire percentage, terminal manager bench depth. Stand-alone D&I goals divorced from the operating plan are the most common reason these programs stall.

  3. Fund the annual D&I budget line

    • Cover Women In Trucking membership, conference sponsorship (Accelerate!), recruiter training, ERG operating costs, and translation services for handbook and safety materials.

    Collects number
2

Recruitment and Hiring

  1. Audit driver job postings for biased language

    • Review postings on Indeed, JobsInTrucks, Tenstreet, and DriverReach. Flag gendered phrasing ("he", "manpower"), unnecessary physical maximums beyond FMCSA medical-card requirements, and English-only language that exceeds Part 391.11(b)(2) reading/speaking standards.

    Collects list
  2. Rewrite flagged job postings with HR

    • Push the revised postings live on the recruiting platform (Tenstreet, DriverReach) and update any third-party board syndication. Re-run the audit after publication to confirm changes propagated.

  3. Post openings on WIT and HireVeterans boards

    • Syndicate CDL-A and shop technician openings to Women In Trucking's job board, HireVeterans, RecruitMilitary, and the local Workforce Investment Board. Track source-of-hire in Tenstreet so next year's posting spend can follow what actually converts.

3

Training and Development

  1. Deliver unconscious-bias training to dispatchers

    • Dispatchers control load assignment, home-time, and detention follow-through — the three biggest drivers of perceived fairness in the cab. Use case studies on lane assignment and miles distribution rather than generic corporate modules.

  2. Launch the driver mentorship pairing program

    • Pair new CDL-A hires with experienced drivers for the first 90 days — most voluntary turnover happens in this window. Prioritize same-language pairings for Spanish-primary drivers and intentional cross-pairings for women drivers entering male-dominated terminals.

  3. Sponsor attendance at the WIT Accelerate conference

    • Send a mix of office staff and drivers — sending only HR to a driver-facing conference misses the point. Budget for the Accelerate! Conference & Expo (Women In Trucking) and the NAMC trucking track when scheduling allows.

4

Policies and Procedures

  1. Update the harassment policy in the driver handbook

    • Address scenarios specific to motor carrier operations: shipper / consignee dock conduct, truck-stop incidents, team-driving arrangements, and trainer-trainee dynamics. Translate to Spanish if more than 10% of the driver workforce is Spanish-primary.

  2. Confirm the anonymous hotline reaches OTR drivers

    • Test the hotline number from a driver's cell during off-hours and from a truck-stop landline. Confirm Spanish-language intake and that the ELD-app deep link still resolves after the last firmware update.

    Collects list
  3. Escalate hotline gaps to the vendor

    • Open a vendor ticket with EthicsPoint / NAVEX / Lighthouse (whichever the carrier uses), reference the failing test scenario, and set a re-test date. Notify the safety director and HR director on the same email thread so the resolution is visible.

  4. Audit settlement statements for pay equity

    • Compare CPM, accessorial pay, and detention reimbursement across demographic groups for similar lanes and tenure. A gap on detention or layover pay often shows up first — it's discretionary and tied to dispatcher follow-up, which is exactly where bias creeps in.

    Collects list
5

Workplace Culture

  1. Schedule cultural observance days on the dispatch calendar

    • Load Ramadan, Yom Kippur, Diwali, Juneteenth, and Veterans Day into the dispatch calendar at the start of the year so home-time requests don't compete with major holiday freight. Dispatchers should know these dates before tendering loads, not after a driver asks.

  2. Charter the Women In Trucking ERG

    • Identify an executive sponsor, set a quarterly meeting cadence, and fund a small ERG operating budget. The ERG should have a direct line to the safety director on cab and facility issues (sleeper-berth design, terminal restroom access, PPE sizing).

  3. Stock the terminal quiet and prayer room

    • A small dedicated room near the driver lounge — clean, lockable, with a prayer rug and a foldable mat — accommodates Muslim drivers' salat schedule and gives anyone a private space for a phone call home. Costs almost nothing; signals more than the all-hands email.

6

Communication and Accountability

  1. Publish the quarterly D&I dashboard to leadership

    • Include hires by source, voluntary turnover by demographic, promotion rate into driver-trainer and dispatcher roles, and hotline volume. Review at the same operations meeting that reviews CSA scores and DOT-recordable rate, not as a separate HR-only forum.

  2. Review driver retention by demographic group

    • Slice 90-day, 6-month, and 12-month retention by gender, race, and veteran status. The 90-day cliff is where mentorship pairings, terminal manager training, and dispatcher conduct show up in the numbers.

  3. Issue the annual D&I report to drivers and customers

    • Publish in plain language with the operating data behind the claims — shipper supplier-diversity programs increasingly require this as a condition of contract renewal. Push to the driver ELD-app inbox and the customer portal on the same day.

    Collects file