Female truck drivers: Tough women in a tough job

Female truck driver at work. (Provided by interviewee)

In her medium-sized bread truck, there's a bedroll and blanket on the driver's seat, a bag of clothes under the passenger seat, and a few toiletries in a basin and plastic bags. This is all that Song Aihua, a freight driver born in the 1980s, has taken with her for daily work and life.

Three years ago, Song came to Shanghai and began taking freight orders using a loan-bought vehicle through a logistics platform.

To save on living expenses, she lived in her van instead of renting a room. Thanks to her outstanding performance at work, the platform recognized her as a "Service Star" last year, the only female among the 10 honorees.

Related data from the logistic platform where Song works suggests that female truck drivers remain a minority, but the number is increasing. The platform covers 360 cities across China, and it shows over 40,000 women drivers are active each month, a 107% increase year on year. Most of these women are young, with 45% born in the 1980s and 27% in the 1990s.

Song gets 10 to 12 orders daily. She works from around 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. for a monthly income of RMB 15,000 to 20,000.

Due to her irregular work hours, Song doesn't have a fixed schedule for meals and rest. Usually, she eats in a nearby restaurant and freshens up in the washroom at vehicle charging stations.

Despite facing challenges in her job, Song finds moments of triumph from time to time. "When I'm delivering goods along a familiar route, some clients notice my reliability and compliment, and they'll say: 'Lady driver, you're a real heroine among women.'"

Cui Qianfeng, a truck driver born in the mid-1980s, believes that driving a truck is an excellent job for women like her: "You get a lot of free time. You can take on more delivery orders if you want to earn more. You may also take a break whenever you like. Driving a truck is particularly suitable for someone like me without a degree or work experience."

Apart from driving and taking care of her elementary school-aged twins, Cui uses her free time to post short videos of her work and life and sometimes hosts live streams, sharing her experiences with newcomers to the industry.

Throughout her years as a truck driver, Cui not only delivers goods in Shanghai but also takes the opportunity to explore various cities in the neighboring Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces during her assignments. After completing her deliveries, she often heads to the funny places nearby, finding joy in her own company.

Source: China Youth Daily；trans-editing by Guo Yao