Before setting off from Qingdao, a port city in Shandong Province in east China, Xu Dianquan vacuumed the interior of his truck, focusing particularly on the bunk beds behind the driver's seat. He also ensured the two onboard refrigerators were well-stocked with enough food to last him four to five days.

His truck, a massive 17-meter-long vehicle with a gross towing weight of 40 tons, is adorned with a blue "TIR" (Transport International Routier) sticker and loaded with approximately 16 tons of chocolate. The journey ahead is a lengthy one, spanning about 10,000 km from Qingdao to the Russian capital Moscow.

In the realm of long-haul trucking, Xu is revered as a "godfather" among his peers in the truck fleet, logging an impressive 240,000 km each year. With over three decades of driving experience, Xu is the go-to mentor for new drivers tackling the formidable China-Russia route.

Long hauls

At 53, Xu, who hails from Heilongjiang Province in northeast China, some 2,000 km from Qingdao, epitomizes the archetypal truck driver with his closely cropped hair and sturdy yet modest stature. A father of two, he is rarely home and he usually connects with his wife and children via video calls.

He is the pioneering driver of the Qingdao-Moscow route within his fleet. The roundtrip, akin to circling half the globe, takes about a month to complete. Over the past year, Xu has navigated this route no fewer than 12 times.

Prior to this, he had been engaged in long-haul deliveries across China, covering vast territories from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to Xizang Autonomous Region, with one-way trips averaging about 5,000 km. Despite these extensive travels, it was the expansive China-Russia route that best suited his appetite for long-distance driving.

While the 10,000-km journey boasts somewhat of a romantic allure, passing the picturesque Lake Baikal and the vast expanses of Siberia, offering views of mountains, rivers, grasslands and forests, it also poses numerous challenges due to its length and the cold weather that dominates almost half of the year. In the days leading up to this departure, heavy snowfall in Manzhouli, a border city in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region along the route, sparked heated discussions among the fleet about the potential impacts on their travel.

Accompanying Xu on this journey is a journalist from Lifeweek, a magazine that is now in its third year of a series Following China's Truckers. This series began in 2019 and continued last year. Each installment features different journalists who follow various routes, such as the coal transportation line in Shanxi Province, the vegetable industry transportation line in Shandong Province and the building materials line that traverses the Qinghai-Xizang route. These programs yield glimpses into the featured industries and the life of truck drivers serving them.

On October 14, Xu finally unloaded the cargo on the outskirts of Moscow and rushed to another warehouse to load up jars of jam to begin his return journey. Whenever he reaches Moscow, he rarely has the time to actually go visit the city center. The truck he is driving still has three years of loan payments remaining. Once it's paid off, he plans to hire a driver to take over so he can spend more time with his family back home.

Driving against the odds

According to data from the Ministry of Transport, as of 2023, China had over 17 million truck drivers, altogether managing 73 percent of total commercial freight volume. These drivers navigate over 5.43 million km of roads across China each year, keeping the lifeblood of China's economy flowing both within domestic areas and across neighboring countries.

The demographic of truck drivers primarily consists of young and middle-aged males, with drivers aged 30 to 49 making up 79.89 percent of the total and men accounting for 99.03 percent of the group.

Sui Jinrong, a female heavy truck driver from Harbin in Heilongjiang, stands out in this male-dominated industry. The 44-year-old drives a heavy truck with 22 wheels, weighing over 70 tons when fully loaded. For over 10 years, she has been transporting coal from Ordos, Inner Mongolia, to destinations across the country.

Initially, Sui became a truck driver to earn money, as truck drivers generally earn relatively high salaries compared with other blue-collar professions. However, she switched careers due to the demanding nature of the job, but returned to truck driving after her ex-husband's poor investment decisions left her family in debt. After her divorce, she continued to drive heavy trucks to make a living. As a single mother, her son has been accompanying her on the road since he was just over 1 year old, practically growing up in the truck over the subsequent years.

This mother-son duo was quite unique among truck drivers. A few years ago, Sui casually shared a video of herself driving a heavy truck on social media, quickly gaining a substantial following. In 2021, she started livestreaming during her breaks to chat with her fans, finding it a relaxing way to pass the time. During the livestreams, her face often appeared smudged with coal dust as she chatted with her fans; and sometimes, when she was in good spirits, she would even sing a song.

Her story caught the attention of the media; and in 2020, China Central Television aired a series of documentaries about truck drivers, including an episode featuring her story. She also appeared on other TV programs, which increased her exposure and brought her more fans. Now, she has over 7 million followers across different social media platforms, including more than 2.6 million on China's leading short-video platform, Douyin.

In 2020, she cleared her debts; and in 2022, she bought her own house in Hebei Province. Although her time at home is limited, she finally has a place to call her own. In one of her videos, she mentioned, "I've spent years drifting from place to place, always sharing only the good news with my family." During transportation, encountering traffic jams and roads blocked by heavy snow is common, and many drivers suffer from health issues due to fatigue, irregular eating and sitting for long periods, keeping medicine stocked in their trucks year-round.

Some of her fans are also truck drivers. Now, using her years of work experience and connections, she helps other drivers get new jobs. "We always come across difficulties in life, but as long as we persist and never give up, there will definitely be rewards," she said.

(Print edition title: The Grit and Grind)

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon

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