Women Shaping City Logistics From Scanning Precision to E‑Commerce Transport Management

Logistics is still often described as a male-dominated industry, but that description tells only part of the story. Across City Logistics, women are working in roles that range from the day-to-day handling and tracking of goods to e-commerce transport management and the design of systems intended to make the business work better. Their experiences are not identical: some have had to prove themselves in environments where assumptions about women persist, while others say gender has barely featured in their working lives.

Accuracy and pace in day-to-day operations

For Khulile Shungube, a Checker at City Logistics, much of the job comes down to accuracy. Her work involves scanning incoming and outgoing goods and ensuring that items are correctly recorded and tracked through the system. It is detailed work, but it is the pace and immediacy of logistics that initially appealed to her.

“I enjoy working in a fast-paced environment where my work has a direct impact on the business,” she says.

“I like being part of a process that ensures products move efficiently from one point to another and reach customers on time.”

Shungube says being a woman in logistics has, at times, meant having to establish her capability in ways her male colleagues may not have had to.

“I have had to work harder to prove my abilities and show that I can handle the responsibilities and demands of the job,” she says. Her response has been to remain professional, be consistent and allow the quality of her work to speak for itself.

Attention to detail, reliability and teamwork have helped her build that reputation. One of the achievements she values most is becoming a trusted member of her team, while another is more personal: her work has enabled her to build a home for her family.

Leading in a changing environment

Sanelisiwe “Lillian” Gumbo, E-commerce Transport Operations Manager, works in a part of the business where even the best-laid plan can be disrupted by circumstances beyond the team’s control. Responding to those changes is part of the job, and part of what drew her to the sector in the first place.

“Logistics is the global pulse that keeps the world moving, and I wanted to be part of that innovation,” she says.

For Gumbo, one of the more difficult aspects of progressing in the industry has been challenging assumptions about women in leadership, including the perception that emotion may interfere with their ability to lead. At the same time, her own experience with male colleagues has been positive.

“I have received all the support from males in the department,” she says, adding that building confidence and presence has also played an important part in her development as a manager.

One of the milestones she values most is having been involved in City Logistics’ e-commerce division from its early days. “Being part of the e-commerce division from day one was groundbreaking for me, and it still is,” she says.

Continuous improvement and support

For City Logistics’ Continuous Improvement Manager, Neraksha Budram Diaram, the route into the sector was less deliberate. “I did not choose logistics; it chose me,” she says. “My experience and exposure in the working environment has always been in and around warehousing and logistics.” Her role now centres on strategic projects, solution design and keeping implementation on track, with much of the work focused on identifying where processes can be improved and turning those ideas into practical changes across the organisation.

The unpredictable nature of the industry is part of what continues to hold her interest. “I enjoy the dynamic, fast-paced environment and all the challenges that come with it,” she says. Unlike Shungube, she says she has not encountered significant gender-related barriers during her career and describes her male colleagues as supportive, respectful and willing to assist. She has, however, noticed a broader shift in the industry, particularly in the number of women moving into leadership positions.

Some of the work she is proudest of has involved continuous improvement projects that introduced new strategies, improved efficiency and changed established ways of working. “Being able to help shape better ways of working while delivering measurable business value has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my career,” she says.

Creating opportunities for women

City Logistics CEO Ryan Gaines says that creating meaningful opportunities for women is less about treating them as an exception in the industry and more about ensuring that capable people have room to progress.

“Women already play important roles across our business, from frontline operations to management and strategic functions. Our responsibility as an employer is to make sure people have access to the development, support and opportunities they need to build meaningful careers. The strength of a logistics business comes from the quality of its people, and that means recognising talent wherever it sits.”

That support does not look the same for everyone. Shungube would like to see continued emphasis on equal access to training and career development, particularly where those opportunities can create pathways into different roles and levels of the business. Gumbo believes greater flexibility around working hours and family responsibilities, where operational demands allow, could make a meaningful difference to women trying to progress in demanding roles.

For the Continuous Improvement Manager, development also requires greater transparency. Employers, she says, need to be clear about where employees have skills gaps so that women have a fair opportunity to address them, develop further and progress within the industry.

Taken together, their experiences resist the idea that there is a single story about being a woman in logistics. There are still assumptions to overcome in parts of the industry, but there are also women whose careers are increasingly defined not by their gender, but by the teams they lead, the systems they improve, the responsibilities they carry and the work they do every day.

ENDS//