QCOSTARICA – Milena González, a Costa Rican truck driver, has become a sensation on the TikTok social network.
This year, when the pandemic began, the 33-year-old “trailera” (trucker) she decided to open an account on TikTok to entertain herself, but the thing grew so much that she couldn’t believe it grew quickly to 480,000 followers.
She says receives a lot of comments from people from different countries and is motivated “a lot” every time she sees that they share her videos on different pages.
Her life has always been linked to big trucks, because her father had a transport company. Also, a few years ago she and her husband worked as administrators in another transport company; however, it wasn’t until this year that she got into the driving.
In an interview with La Teja, the trailera said: “My husband is a trucker and I started to accompany him on trips, I had already driven a bit before, but this year I hit the road (behind the wheel) and I loved it. At his work they know that he is lending me the trailer to me and there is no problem.
“Right now I am in the southern border, I came with my husband and my eldest son, it is a trip of about two or three days. It’s funny because in many places they see me and say: ‘See, the trailerra that appears on TikTok”.
So far she has not made any international (cross-border) trips, but she has driven from border to border in Costa Rica, always accompanied by her husband, Jacksander Agüero, because they both know well that being a truck driver is a dangerous job, since they can suffer assaults or attacks.
Milena says that whenever she opens TikTok she sees congratulations, messages of support and admiration, all of which gives her the strength to continue with her dreams.
“People tell me that I am very brave, a hard-working woman. Ticos say that they are proud that I am from this country and they even tell me that when I pass by any place I blow the horn and make noise to let them know that I am the one who is passing by.
“I really enjoy this, I love driving and I share this with my family, I have five children and whenever I can I take them with me, although the two oldest are already teenagers and they no longer find it as funny as the little ones, who always love me. they ask me to take them everywhere,” she said.
But not all the messages she has received are good, there is never a lack of “macho men” who tell her that being a truck driver is a man’s thing.
“As they share my videos so much, I have seen that they put comments that women should not drive trailers, that I should be washing dishes at home, that the clothes I wear are not appropriate because I show a lot and I go around exhibiting, but to me I like to dress like that, I take good care of myself, I exercise and I enjoy being who I am.
“I don’t pay attention to bad comments, my family supports me and that’s what matters to me. My husband is not at all a macho man, he is the one who drives me to continue fulfilling my dreams and that is worth a lot to me, ”she assured.
She loves what she does
Milena says that she does not know if she will have to drive with her husband at Christmas or New Year’s Eve, but if she does, she will do it with great pleasure and she will enjoy it because she always appreciates the work provides food for her family.
Every time she goes to work, she takes the opportunity to make videos and publish them on the social network to continue growing her audience, she feels that this is a means to help many women who want to do things and do not try out of fear.
“You shouldn’t pay attention to people and negative comments, if you want to do something you have to fight for it. This cost me a lot at first, I even contracted from stress from handling those chunchones (big rigs), but my husband’s support was present at all times, he trusted me more than I did, and told me not to make him look bad,” she said with a laugh.
The trucker says she really enjoys the popularity that the social network has given her, since people recognize her on the street.
“It has happened to me that people see me and blow the horn at me, and even other truck drivers even ask me to stop because they want to take a picture with me and I do it with great pleasure, I thank people for the love they give me,” she assured.
“When you want something you have to convince yourself that you can do it and fight (for it)”, were the words of wisdom from Milena González, truck driver.
