Neha Thakur, Himachal Pradesh’s first woman truck driver and vlogger, has shattered gender stereotypes by steering 16-tonne trucks, inspired by her father, amid rising female licences and official praise for her road safety advocacy.
Neha Thakur, 23, from Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh, became the state’s pioneering woman truck driver and YouTuber in 2023, defying “girls don’t drive trucks” taunts.
Supported by father, she earned her heavy vehicle licence, launched a channel with 50,000+ subscribers by December 2025, and now handles interstate hauls on Himachal’s highways-fulfilling a childhood dream in male-dominated logistics through self-training and safe-driving vlogs.
Family cheers her courage; Mandi RTO hails a 15% rise in women applicants; latest: mentoring via social media post-2025 flood relief.
From Passenger Seat to Driver’s Cab
Neha Thakur’s story unfolds like a highway winding through Himachal’s mist-shrouded hills-raw determination at the wheel. Growing up in Mandi, she spent childhood holidays riding shotgun with her father, a trucker hauling goods from apple orchards to distant markets.
“I watched him navigate sharp turns and foggy passes, dreaming of gripping the steering wheel myself,” Neha recalls in a recent vlog. Society scoffed: “Girls don’t drive trucks.” Undeterred, at 21, she enrolled in driving school, acing tests for her heavy motor vehicle licence in 2023.
Today, she pilots a 16-tonne Tata truck, laden with construction materials or farm produce, covering 500 kilometres daily.
Her YouTube channel, launched soon after, blends adventure with education. Videos titled “Women on Wheels: Overtaking Safely” have amassed over 5 lakh views, drawing 52,000 subscribers by late 2025.
Neha films en route-tyre checks, load balancing, monsoon manoeuvres-demystifying trucking for women. “My father said, ‘The road respects skill, not gender.’
That became my mantra,” she shares. A Mandi RTO official lauds her impact: “Neha’s visibility has sparked a 15% surge in female heavy vehicle licence applications this year alone. She’s a role model transforming logistics” (Mandi Regional Transport Officer, December 2025).
Breaking Barriers Amid Himachal’s Rough Roads
Himachal’s terrain tests every driver: narrow gorges, landslide-prone slopes, relentless rains. Neha thrives here, turning challenges into content. Post-2023 monsoon floods that crippled Mandi, she volunteered for relief convoys, delivering essentials through debris-strewn paths.
“Those runs taught me resilience-trucks don’t stop for stereotypes,” she says. Her breakthrough aligned with state initiatives; Himachal’s transport department, facing a 20% driver shortage, ran women-only training camps in 2024, licensing 150 participants.
Nationally, momentum builds. India’s Ministry of Road Transport and Highways reports 1,200 women heavy vehicle drivers licensed in 2025, up from 400 in 2022-a 200% jump. Yet, women comprise under 2% of India’s 15 million truckers, per a 2025 SIAM study.
Neha addresses this gap head-on. Her Instagram reels tag aspiring drivers: “Tag someone breaking stereotypes.” Responses flood in-from Kerala mechanics to Punjab farmers’ daughters. Locally, Mandi traders now prefer her reliable hauls. “She’s punctual, safe, and fearless,” says apple exporter Vikram Sharma.
Family Fuel and Future Horizons
Rajesh Thakur’s role anchors Neha’s ascent. A 25-year trucking veteran, he modified their home truck for her practice runs, ignoring neighbours’ whispers. “I saw fire in her eyes during those rides. Why clip her wings?” he tells reporters.
This paternal push echoes broader shifts; a 2025 NSSO survey shows 30% of rural Indian women citing family support as key to entering non-traditional jobs.
Neha balances dual careers: dawn patrols end with evening edits, monetising views while mentoring. She’s eyeing an app for women drivers-route planners, breakdown alerts. Challenges persist-harassment on highways, family pressures-but she counters with community.
“Vlogging builds a sisterhood; we’re not alone,” she posts. Officials back her: “We aim for 500 women truckers in Himachal by 2027. Neha accelerates that vision” (Himachal Transport Secretary, November 2025).
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
Neha Thakur steers us towards a kinder world, where empathy erodes barriers and courage paves roads to coexistence.
At The Logical Indian, we champion such harmony-stories proving gender norms yield to shared dreams and dialogue.
Her vlogs foster understanding in male bastions, urging society to amplify women’s voices in every cab, field, and factory. True progress blooms when we celebrate resilience with kindness, dismantling divides one mile at a time.
