Many professions that were once more dominated by men have become increasingly common among women. However, this isn’t as prevalent as one might think. In fact, one profession where it’s still rare to see a man is truck driver. That’s why the story of Adriana Muresan, a 57-year-old truck driver with over two decades of experience behind the wheel of heavy goods vehicles, has gone viral.
“The first thing they asked me was if my husband had a license”
The likelihood of a woman becoming a truck driver is very low. Specifically, in countries like Spain, female truck drivers make up less than 4%. In Muresan’s case, she emigrated from Romania to Spain hoping to find a more favorable environment for women in the trucking industry. However, her experience has been quite different. “The first thing they asked me was if my husband had a license,” she recalls. The fact is, the security situation in the sector doesn’t make things easy either. Just a few weeks ago, a driver was seen recording from his cab the exact moment his truck was being robbed.
This woman’s story describes a sector deeply affected by sexism and contempt simply for being women. “My country wasn’t ready for women truck drivers. I realized that Spain wasn’t either,” explains the woman who carries out this profession with respect and pride. Throughout her career, Adriana has traveled national and international routes, but on all of them she has felt the presence of patriarchy, as she herself recounts.
Muresan has even had to call the police because of harassment from a colleague who tried to take advantage of their isolation on the road
The protagonist of this story also speaks of the widespread insecurity in the sector. One of her most critical moments occurred in France, when she discovered several men trying to steal diesel fuel from her truck in the early hours of the morning. “Insecurity has increased significantly,” the truck driver says. The problem is that it’s not just general insecurity, but also specific insecurity. Muresan has even had to call the police because of harassment from a colleague who tried to take advantage of their isolation on the road. “Since we’re alone here…” was what her colleague suggested to her. Constant fear forces many female truck drivers to adopt extreme measures. Adriana says that when she arrives at a rest area, she prefers to hide: she parks, closes the curtains, and avoids going out so that no one knows she’s a woman.
The truck driver explains that she even used to take advantage of the time to use the restroom and eat before stopping to sleep, so she wouldn’t have to expose herself at night. This, combined with the general insecurity that truck drivers face on the roads, makes this profession risky. “There’s a shortage of drivers because of this issue. Insecurity has increased significantly,” the truck driver asserts. In any case, this situation reveals a deep structural inequality in a sector that continues to be dominated by stereotypes and gender barriers.
“When I arrive at the parking lot where I stop, I park, turn on the lights, close the curtains, and don’t get out of the truck so they don’t see that I’m a woman”
The driver says she has established routines to protect herself, as safety in service areas is not guaranteed. “When I arrive at the parking lot where I stop, I park, turn on the lights, close the curtains, and don’t get out of the truck so they don’t see that I’m a woman. It’s a shame to have to live like this,” says the woman, who also speaks of the difficulty of balancing work and family life in this sector. The fact is that, faced with a shortage of drivers, many women are discouraged by a work environment that still doesn’t guarantee the respect or protection they deserve.
In addition to the physical safety issues we’ve discussed, there’s also the problem of excessive fatigue while driving. Often, the routes are extremely long, and truck drivers don’t get the sleep they need to get back on the road. “You don’t sleep, you hit the road in the morning, and you spend fifteen hours driving. Day after day, fatigue and stress accumulate, and you become a ticking time bomb. That’s when accidents happen. Killing a family with children simply because we can’t rest,” Muresan concludes.