Bay of Plenty truckies want more women to get into the driving seat

Fonterra milk tanker driver Dariene Taia, (left) hopes her 12-year-old son Lebron will one day follow in her footsteps.

Forging a career in male-dominated industries, Bay of Plenty solo mum Dariene Taia says she had to “fight my way to the top” and put up with “a lot of flak, sexualised talk, [and] shenanigans”.

That changed when she started driving milk tankers for Fonterra a couple of years ago, a job she loves.

Now she wants to encourage other women not to be scared or take flak from anyone to pursue their passions.

She and her tanker-driving colleagues Susan Musgrave, Wendy Howes, and apprentice Georgia Moore have shared stories of how they got started in the industry in a bid to debunk the myth that only men could drive trucks.

It comes as the transport industry, facing an aging workforce, works to encourage more women to get behind the wheel of a rig. Fonterra specifically aimed to increase its female driver proportion from 5 per cent.

Taia, 43, a solo mother from Kawerau, told the Rotorua Daily Post she began working for Fonterra at Edgcumbe in 2022 after completing a free 3-month Level 3 Heavy Vehicle Operators training course at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology.

“Growing up I was never a girlie-girlie type of person and previously worked in the welding-fabrication industry for most of my adult working life.”

This included repairing Holden Crewman utes in Melbourne for four years, working in the gold mines in Perth for almost two years, then repairing fishing boats after moving back from Australia in 2008.

Taia never saw herself driving milk tankers before she was approached by Fonterra.

"I wanted to drive tip trucks delivering soil, rocks and metal but being a milk tanker driver is the best job ever …

“Especially compared to what I’ve had to put up with in the past, which was a lot of flak, sexualised talk, shenanigans and bullshit.”

Taia said she had to “fight her way to the top” and attributed her success to a strong role model – her mother Lorraine Taia from Rotorua.

“My mother is the hardest working woman I know, and she is not shy to stand her ground and tell you what’s up.

“I want to tell other women not to be scared. Fight for your passion, your mana and wairua, go for it. And don’t take flak from anybody.”

Taia wanted to encourage other women, especially Māori wahine, to enter the transport industry.

She also hoped her 12-year-old son Lebron would one day join her driving trucks out on the road, and said she was “proud to show him what I can do”.

She is among four women drivers profiled by their employer Fonterra in a bid to encourage others into the industry.

Fonterra milk tanker driver Susan Musgrave.

Musgrave said in a Fonterra statement she hit the road because she wanted to break out of a mundane office routine.

Now she describes her job as being a “paid tourist”.

She said she believed industries and companies failing to hire women in some roles was costing them and the country.

“It’s like having a car and driving it everywhere in second gear.”

Wendy Howes, one of Edgecumbe's leading tanker drivers, presents a certificate to Lebron Taia at a Fonterra family day event.

Howes, one of Edgecumbe’s lead tanker drivers, started out in a sewing factory and ran the family business before taking an adventurous leap and joining Fonterra.

“I always say you can do anything you want and you’re never too old for change. If you want to do something, go and grab it,” she said in the statement.

It said heavy automotive apprentice Moore’s interest in driving trucks came from growing up on a farm.

Moore said she appreciated the camaraderie among her colleagues who had helped “unlock her potential” in a male-dominated environment.

Georgia Moore, an apprentice heavy vehicle mechanic at Fonterra's Edgecumbe site.

Fonterra general manager of national transport and logistics Paul Phipps told the Rotorua Daily Post empowering women in transport was good for the industry.

Phipps said diversity behind the wheel brought fresh perspectives as well as enhanced safety and efficiency on the roads.

“Embracing women in tanker driving roles not only empowers individuals but strengthens our entire transport sector, fostering innovation, inclusivity, and driving positive change for the future of logistics.”

Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting NZ’s interim chief executive Dom Kalasih said increasing diversity was an important issue for the industry.

“I believe it is a necessary initiative to address our ageing truck driver population that will leave a significant gap in our workforce in the short to mid-term."

More importantly, treating people fairly and equally was simply the “right” thing to do, he said.

Transporting New Zealand's interim chief executive Dom Kalasih. Photo/ Transporting NZ

He said its recent substantive diversity initiatives included establishing a cohort of diversity champions including 11 successful women.

“Our aim was that they would provide leadership at varying levels and share their stories.”

Kalasih said at the association’s national conference last year, most industry award winners were women.

Changing attitudes, behaviours and culture were, however, “considerable challenges.

“While it feels like progress is being made, we still have a long way to go, and we have to be committed to playing a long game.”

Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 24 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.