<p>Female truck drivers, or &#8220;truck girls,&#8221; are attracting attention as the saviors of the transportation industry, which is suffering from a serious labor shortage. Many women use social networking services to share how they maneuver their huge steering wheels with their slender arms and how they introduce SA&#8217;s gourmet food from all over Japan.</p>
<h3> Rinasuke, 29, has been driving a truck for 4 years.</h3>
<figure id="attachment_312417" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-312417" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="98eb786f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/05/OGA09019.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-312417" class="wp-caption-text"> She switched careers from an office job to become a driver. She was based in the Kansai region and drove long distances. Her husband supported her, saying, &#8220;I&#8217;m glad you found a rewarding job.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_312418" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-312418" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="dde9fccd"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/05/OGA09046.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-312418" class="wp-caption-text"> Rinasuke Rinasuke, whose story has not appeared in this magazine 《Rapidly Increasing》 We asked truck girls what they really think about working!</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_312419" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-312419" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="8b203da5"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/05/OGA09053.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-312419" class="wp-caption-text"> Rinasuke: We asked truck girls about their true motives for working, which are rapidly increasing!</figcaption></figure>
<p><strong> When I was in high school, I rode in a large truck for the first time as a part-timer in a moving job. I was so impressed with how cool it was! I thought that I wanted to be a driver, too.</strong></p>
<p> Kana, 25, has been a driver for four years. She works for a transportation company in Saitama, delivering goods five days a week to places such as Shizuoka and Fukushima. Although Kana is petite, standing only 146 cm tall, she drives a large 10-ton truck.</p>
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<p><strong> The truck has a bed behind the driver&#8217;s seat, which I customize to my liking by putting my favorite stuffed animals on it. It feels like my own personal space, and I get excited just riding in it.</strong></p>
<p> Although he often has to load and unload heavy cargo, he says such work is not a chore at all.</p>
<p><strong> I&#8217;m small, so I use a stepladder when loading and unloading, but it&#8217;s just a lot of work. But it only takes a lot of time and effort, and physically I have no problem with it. The only thing that is difficult for me as a woman is that there are not many restrooms. Since the industry is dominated by men, there are few restrooms for women at the factories we deliver to, and they are often located far away from parking spaces.&#8221;</strong></p>
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<p> Nacchan, 24, who has been driving for five years, is an event truck driver who travels around the country. He transports music equipment and stage panels to live concerts and other venues.</p>
<p><strong> I go anywhere in Japan when there is an event, so I have a lot of opportunities to drive long distances. I was worried at first, but surprisingly I never get sleepy. In the transportation industry, there is a rule called &#8216;430 break,&#8217; and I take a 30-minute break every four hours. I enjoy the gourmet food at the SAs that my fellow drivers have taught me about, and even long-distance trips such as to Hokkaido or Kyushu are no longer a hardship for me. I originally didn&#8217;t want to be a driver, but when I joined the company thinking it was a warehouse job, I found out they were looking for a driver, so I had no choice but to start driving trucks.</strong></p>
<p> To be frank, how much money do the &#8220;truck girls&#8221; make? Rinasuke, 29, who is based in Ibaraki and drives medium-haul trucks, tells us.</p>
<p><strong> The salary depends on the size of the truck and the distance it travels. Those who make a lot of money can earn over 600,000 yen a month. People tend to think that long-distance work is more profitable, but since you can only drive once a day, local delivery is more efficient since you can carry goods to several places in a day. When you drive long distances, you have to eat out and take baths at the hot springs you go to, so it costs a lot more money than you might think (laughs).</strong></p>
<p> The number of female drivers is gradually increasing. It is not only male drivers who support Japan&#8217;s logistics industry.</p>
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<h3>Kana, 25 years old, has been driving a truck for 4 years.</h3>
<figure id="attachment_312420" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-312420" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="0f637960"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/05/OGA09362.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-312420" class="wp-caption-text"> She has loved cars since she was a child and got her driver&#8217;s license as soon as she turned 18. I thought women in big trucks were cool when I was a kid, and I became one of them.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_312422" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-312422" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="defc404f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/05/OGA09408.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-312422" class="wp-caption-text"> Her favorite swap body truck. The truck looks even bigger when it is side by side with Kana-san.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_312421" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-312421" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="2f55c5ef"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/05/OGA09373.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-312421" class="wp-caption-text"> Kana&#8217;s photo not featured in this issue 《Rapidly growing number of truck girls: We asked them what they really think about working!</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_312423" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-312423" style="width: 2027px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="c035d1c9"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/05/OGA09430.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-312423" class="wp-caption-text"> Kana-san, a photo not featured in this issue We asked truck girls what they really think about their work!</figcaption></figure>
<h3> Mayu, 25 years old, has been driving a truck for 5 years.</h3>
<figure id="attachment_312425" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-312425" style="width: 1967px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="ff681935"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/05/unnamed2.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-312425" class="wp-caption-text"> Based in Chiba. At her previous job at a horse riding club, she rode on a &#8220;horse-drawn carriage,&#8221; a large truck that transports horses, which made her long to become a truck driver.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_312413" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-312413" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="27c677b6"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/05/IMG_3252.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-312413" class="wp-caption-text"> Mayu Mayu, who has never been featured in this magazine 《Rising number of women working in trucks》 We asked the women who work in trucks what they really think about their jobs.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_312424" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-312424" style="width: 2287px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="197ae04f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/05/unnamed.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-312424" class="wp-caption-text"> Mayu Mayu We interviewed a rapidly growing number of trucking girls about what they really think about working.</figcaption></figure>
<h3> Nacchan 24 years old, has been driving a truck for 5 years.</h3>
<figure id="attachment_312415" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-312415" style="width: 1931px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="816ccc19"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/05/OGA08933.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-312415" class="wp-caption-text"> Based in Ibaraki, she travels all over Japan. Her companion for long-distance driving is Monster Energy, and she always buys a box of it. She loves getting her nails done and goes to a nail salon once a month.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_312414" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-312414" style="width: 1667px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="a3a65ba1"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/05/OGA08902.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-312414" class="wp-caption-text"> Nacchan n, who was not featured in the magazine We asked truck girls, who are rapidly increasing in number, what they really think about working!</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_312416" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-312416" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="18b860d3"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/05/OGA08946.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-312416" class="wp-caption-text"> Nacchan n, a cut that has never been published in this magazine 《A rapidly growing number》 We asked truck girls what they really think about working!</figcaption></figure>
<p> From the June 2, 2023 issue of FRIDAY</p>


 Takayuki Ogawauchi Courtesy of Mayu-san

 Truck girls" are attracting attention as the savior of the transportation industry, which is suffering from a serious labor shortage. We asked them what they really think about working in the trucking industry...

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