The slow and steady rise of women truckers

For Spanish truck driver Oti Cabadas, a.k.a. Coco Trucker², the open road lifestyle appealed to her at an early age. “I was introduced to the world of trucking by my boyfriend when I was 19 and have been hooked ever since,” she says. While she’s based in Palencia, she spends her days criss-crossing across Spain and sometimes Portugal, primarily transporting beer for her clients. When asked what she loves most about her job, it’s a quick, obvious answer: “It’s the feeling of freedom,” she says. “It’s relative freedom of course, because you always have a schedule to stick to. But you get to choose when and where you stop and to set your own itineraries. I’m very independent, so I love that.”

Several hundred miles north of Coco Trucker in the French town of Clermont-Ferrand, Sandrine Son³ echoes the same feeling. “I love my job because I feel so free on the road. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like I’m working at all,” says the French trucker. She, too, felt the pull towards the open road early on. “I grew up in the world of mechanics: my father was a technical inspector for a bus company, so I always had that idea that one day I would work on the road,” she says. “And because I love that feeling of freedom when I’m driving, I chose to work mostly nights, making deliveries for supermarkets in my refrigerated truck. At night, you’re alone on the road, there’s no congestion, no problems parking. I can just do my thing with no one bothering me.”

Listening to the two women truckers talk, the passion they have for their careers and that intoxicating feeling of freedom is clear as day. But we wanted to know if either of them had encountered specific obstacles for female drivers. According to Sandrine, not really. “Things have changed in recent years. Most of all, in the way we’re perceived by our male colleagues,” she says. “They sometimes stare at me a little, they’re surprised, but they don’t look down on me. All in all, I get more encouragement than condescension. There’s still some male chauvinism, sure, but it doesn’t stop me. I actually often hear male truckers saying there should be more women in the industry, for more diversity.” Increasingly, companies are beginning to echo that sentiment, recognising that recruiting more female drivers is not just a matter of fairness, but a practical response to the chronic driver shortage faced across the industry.

Coco Trucker offers a more measured take on diversity. “There are definitely more and more female truckers out there,” she says. “But it’s hard to see them on the road, because they’re still such a small percentage. When you stop for lunch, you’ll usually find yourself in a room full of men. I sometimes feel like a little ant eating on her own ౼ the only woman around.”

With more and more women taking the leap, it’s interesting to dive deeper and discover what encourages them to make that move. For Sandrine, it might just be the power of example: “A female trucker used to be a rarity, but today, whether on TV, in magazines or on social media, they are more and more visible, and that contributes to normalising the presence of women in this industry. It shows that everyone can do it.”

A great example of the growing visibility of women truckers is the German TV programme “Trucker Babes.” Now in its twelfth season, the show follows several female truckers as they navigate their routes, find balance between life on the road and home life, and deal with the pressures that come with the job. Across the globe in Colombia, the TV series “Los Briseño” ౼ known in English as “The Road to Love” ౼ tells the story of a young woman, La Chiqui, who goes against her family’s prejudices to become a woman trucker ౼ bringing the experience of truck driving women to a whole new audience.

And we can’t overlook the power of social media in changing perspectives. Oti knows a little about that: “I’ve been sharing my experiences as a trucker on Facebook and Instagram for several years. I have quite a few followers now, but I started out by simply posting an interview I gave in a trade magazine. Then I shared things about my daily life on the road, and it caught on.” Coco Trucker also created a support group on WhatsApp, connecting with female colleagues who, over the years, have become friends. “When I started out, I didn’t know any other women, because we don’t necessarily get a chance to run into each other on the road. Thanks to social media, there are more ways to get in touch. Lots of women write to tell me they’ve always been attracted to trucking but are hesitant. I think the reason there are still so few women is because they don’t realise that they can do it. Many women don’t dare to take the leap,” she says.

“Sure, physical strength sometimes puts us at a disadvantage compared to men,” says Sandrine. “But on the other hand, we’re less abrupt in the way we drive and handle merchandise, we’re more careful. We also often have a better rapport with customers, it’s just a different style.

Research backs this up: studies consistently show that female drivers have safer records than their male counterparts, which is one reason why companies are increasingly and actively courting women in the industry.

“Also, it’s a matter of confidence more than physical abilities,” adds Oti. “I’m 1m60 tall; if I can do it, anyone can! Doing this job is all about having the vocation. If I have any advice for aspiring female truckers, I would just say: ‘follow your passion’. If driving trucks isn’t your true vocation, the job is going to be that much harder. You spend long hours on the road and you’re not home much. But if you love trucks and if this truly is your calling, I say go for it! You can do it just as well as anyone else.”