Meet Neha Thakur: The 25-year-old from Mandi who left air hostess training to become Himachal Pradesh’s first woman truck driver

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It’s not easy to switch careers! But a young girl from Himachal Pradesh left her air hostess training to become a truck driver. Meet 25-year-old Neha Thakur who chose a career path few would have expected. After graduating, she worked briefly in the aviation sector and today, she spends her days behind the wheel of a 16-tonne truck, travelling across India. Neha belongs from Khudla village in Sarkaghat, Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh. She is widely known as Himachal Pradesh’s first woman truck driver. She covers her journeys in her own social-media videos and vlogs.The childhood connectionTrucks were a part of Neha’s childhood because her father, Rajesh Thakur, has been a truck driver for more than two decades. Neha used to travel with him a lot. In one of her Instagram vlogs, she said that her father used to drop her in the school on a truck and she was quite fascinated by the vehicle.That fascination stayed with her even after she chose a very different path.After graduation, Neha went to Chandigarh and trained as an air hostess. She worked there, but the COVID-19 pandemic happened. The aviation industry was badly hit so she returned to her hometown after losing her job. Instead of viewing that setback as the end of her career, she began looking again at something that had interested her since childhood, truck driving.Truck driving as a professionIt was not an easy decision. Neha had to learn how to handle a heavy commercial vehicle, understand gears, clutch and brakes. She joined a driving school and obtained her Heavy Motor Vehicle licence in 2023, when she was 21. Her father played an important role in her success. He supported her decision and helped her practise with the family truck, despite the criticism and scepticism surrounding a young woman choosing truck driving as a career.

Neha Thakur (Instagram)

The early journeys were largely local. Gradually, however, Neha moved on to longer routes. Today, she drives a 16-tonne Tata truck and has been reported transporting construction material and farm produce across interstate routes. Some accounts say she covers hundreds of kilometres during her journeys.A new challengeDriving a truck through the hills is demanding for any driver. People were often surprised to see Neha behind the steering of a heavy truck. She has spoken about the criticism and doubts she encountered when she chose this profession. But the more she drove, the less she had to explain herself.Long journeys also meant irregular meals, changing weather and nights spent away from home. Driving through narrow mountain roads, fog, rain and difficult terrain requires concentration and patience. Neha’s own social-media content has increasingly shown these less visible aspects of a trucker’s life.When the driver’s seat became a cameraNeha also started her travel vlogging journey with this. She would record her journeys and post them on social media, giving viewers a look inside a profession most people experience only from the outside. Her videos cover her daily routine, long-distance journeys and practical aspects of handling a heavy vehicle.She in one of the videos tells that soon her audience grew and she started getting brand deals. Reports published in 2026 put her YouTube following at more than 4.5 lakh, while her Instagram following has been reported at over 8 lakh.More than a truck storyNeha never intended to become an inspiration or symbol of anything. She simply returned to something she loved and enjoyed. Her story moved from a child’s fascination with her father’s truck, to an air-hostess course, to finally choosing to do what she loved, the steering wheel.Perhaps the most important part of Neha’s story is therefore not that she chose a profession traditionally associated with men. It is that she allowed herself to change direction.For Neha Thakur, the road eventually led back to the place where the fascination had begun with a truck, a mountain road and the confidence to take the wheel herself.

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