People look at me & think it’s a man’s job...not any more
Martina stops traffic with €200k lorry
Martina joy. It’s my Scania, bull-nosed truck which I take to all shows all around Ireland, UK, Europe. It’s 730 horse power.
“It would be like a Ferrari or a Lamborghini. It’s nearly triple the price of a normal lorry.
“It’s all brown leather and there is mood lighting in it that changes colour.
“In Ireland and England, it’s one of the top 10. Wherever there is a show on, I’ll take her to.”
There are only a handful of female truckers in the country but she said she has already received calls from girls driving a cab since she starred in the RTE series.
Martina said: “There are lots of girls texting me saying they want to get their lorry test.
“I would encourage them 100% to go for it. It’s a confidence thing.”
She revealed her truck, which is worth more than €200,000, is the flagship vehicle in her family’s trucking business, A & M Commercials. She added: “When I go into the truckers’ line they ask me if I’m lost.
“You have to show your ticket to prove you are a trucker. You do still get it because it’s so rare to see girls driving lorries.”
But Martina said she does feel she gets judged, adding: “If you do something wrong it’s not because you’re learning, it’s because you’re
a girl. It’s the only thing I don’t like
Trucker Martina about it. People are looking at you thinking, ‘It’s a man’s job’, but it’s not any more.”
Martina said the whole trucking craze has become a major trend in Ireland.
She added: “When I was growing up in school the picture on the screen in my phone would have been a truck and now you see girls wearing Scania and have pictures of trucks in their screensaver.
“The tables have totally turned in the trucking industry.
“The age went down from 21 to 18 to drive trucks which is encouraging more young people to drive. And drivers earn brilliant wages.”
The RTE series captures the nation’s top lorry drivers descending on Punchestown Racecourse for their annual convention at the Full Of The Pipe Truck Show Ireland.
Martina is filmed bringing even more trophies home for her prizewinning bull-nosed truck.
Stetsons And Stilettos is on RTE One today at 3.30pm.
news@irishmirror.ie