Mudflaps & hashtags

The world of social media has spawned all manner of fads, crazes and hashtag challenges. With hundreds of millions of users on various platforms every day, the content options are nearly endless and word travels fast.

However, there is one rising trend that perhaps nobody saw coming. The rise of the social media trucker.

• • •

Mike Gaffin is known to his followers as “The Boston Trucker.” He began his social media journey in 2006, when he started making Facebook videos of himself on the job to show his son. How it grew to what it is today was more serendipity than careful planning.

“One day I posted it on YouTube, and I never stopped posting,” he said.

That nonstop posting has grown to more than 30,500 subscribers, and that’s just the start of the Boston Trucker’s reach on social media. You can add another 66,000 on Instagram. His TikTok – to which he credits his daughter for signing him up – has more than 100,000 followers. You can even purchase Boston Trucker merchandise, like shirts and mugs. Gaffin’s popularity earned him a position as a brand ambassador for Shell Rotella.

“It’s so crazy trucking on social media,” Gaffin said. “Like, I always wondered, do other industries – like plumbers – are plumbers on social media? Because all I see on my social media pages are trucks and truckers. You never see the same one. And it’s just exploded. I think truckers have just come together on social media. We’re all one big family, and everybody’s got their opinions.”

With an impressive amount of knowledge of the industry, Gaffin’s friendly disposition makes his content approachable to even the novice. He takes an “old school” approach when it comes to content. His social media channels are full of videos of classic trucks, unique designs and plenty of chrome set to rock or country music. He has interviews with other drivers he meets along the way, discussing their trucks and the like, as well as people he meets at various truck shows.

You’ll also find plenty of videos of him simply doing his job, a throwback of sorts to his humble beginnings. For Gaffin, a second-generation trucker with 33 years of experience, his social media presence reflects his passion for trucking.

“I don’t take it really seriously. I take it just to share my passion for trucking,” he said. “I just love sharing videos. I post stuff that I would personally want to see. I’m not trying to impress anybody. If I have five good followers, I’m happy with that. I’ve got a few more than that. And that’s awesome.”

While sticking to his roots and taking an old school approach has paid off for Gaffin – who is now a veteran in the social media game – other drivers are taking a decidedly more contemporary approach.

• • •

Clarissa Rankin is certainly not what you would think of when you hear “trucker.” With her ever-changing hair styles (and colors), sweeping fake eyelashes, colorful long nails and a personality to match, her infectious energy can’t help but reel you in. It only takes a few minutes with her to understand why so many flock to her social media channels.

The 34-year old mother of two has been driving for the past five years. For Rankin, her channels aren’t just a snapshot of her career – they’re a window into her whole world.

“I feel like what I do on my platform, I show you I’m a woman, I’m a wife, I’m a mother,” she said. “I’m all these different things, but I still love my job as a trucker.”

Rankin has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. When she wasn’t able to find a job putting that degree to work, she found trucking. Her first day on the job was an eye-opening experience that would serve as a jumping off point for her journey into social media.

“As soon as I got into the room for orientation to become a truck driver, I looked around and was like, ‘Ain’t no girls in here,’” she said. “I started making videos immediately just to be like, ‘Girls! Hey! We having a good time here.’”

Despite her enthusiasm, Rankin says her videos weren’t getting views. Undeterred, she continued producing content on various platforms for nearly three years. She was met with similar results. Then, in January 2020 Rankin found TikTok.

“I was about to give up. And then finally, I posted on TikTok,” she said. “Everything that I wasn’t getting seen before, it went viral there. And it took off from there.”

“Take off” might be an understatement. Her TikTok now has 1.6 million followers. Add to that more than 50,300 Instagram followers and Rankin may be – at least in the realm of social media – one of the most well-known truckers in the world. Rankin is now an owner-operator and influencer for CloudTrucks. She says her popularity has opened the eyes of many to the world of trucking.

Rankin has parlayed her success from social media into a cosmetics line and collection of travel essentials designed for truckers called the Owtspoken Collection.

• • •

Not every trucker on social media has the following of Gaffin or Rankin. Some are using social media platforms to simply connect with other drivers and share their stories from the road. With the solitude that comes with the profession, the interaction of social media can be a welcomed change.

That’s the case for Matthew Marchand, a Canadian long-haul driver from Ottawa. Marchand has been in the industry for seven years, spending the past two as a tanker driver. He didn’t venture into social media until after the start of the pandemic.

Taking a “no-frills” approach, Marchand spends the majority of his social media time on Twitter. His feed is full of photos from his workday, places he’s traveled, his weight loss journey and random thoughts and opinions. He has a modest following, just over 7,700 on Twitter, but he isn’t concerned with racking up the followers. He’s just trying to share a glimpse of his world through a windshield, the fitting Twitter handle Marchand chose for himself, @myworldtaw.

He’ll offer you an opinion on practically anything you’d like to ask. In fact, he encourages that interaction. Peeling away the polished videos and big personality, Marchand is the epitome of the “regular guy.” He says that his ability to take followers along for the ride is a big reason for the interest in his account.

“I’m doing tanker work, so it’s a little different,” he said. “I can’t bring you to a chemical plant for obvious reasons, but I can bring you virtually. I show people things that they just can’t see on their own. That’s a hundred percent a big driver.”

• • •

Surprisingly, all three say the majority of their followers come from outside the industry. While the three drivers may have different approaches and endgames for their social media platforms, one thing is certain. They’re showing a side of trucking that most would never get a chance to see.

According to data from Statista, the global average of time spent using social media platforms was 142 minutes per day in 2021. Couple that with the industry being placed under a microscope since the start of the pandemic, and you have a recipe for success when it comes to creating interest from people outside of trucking.

“I think it’s definitely mostly on the positive side. Unfortunately, a lot of people post the negative stuff too,” Gaffin said. “But I think it brings a lot of people into the industry that never thought about giving trucking a chance for a career. I do tell people we make it look fun on social media, and we make it look like it’s not a job, but it’s hard work.”

However, as Marchand points out, that increased exposure also comes with the added chance for negative effects.

“I think there’s change for good and change for bad,” he said. “I mean, you’ll see some of the posts where people are making videos doing outrageously stupid things with a truck. That doesn’t help our industry.”

Creating interest in becoming a trucker can also be a side effect of the increased popularity of drivers on social media. While the idea of a driver shortage has been largely overblown – a myth the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is working hard to dispel – there will always be a need for dedicated individuals to join the industry.

“I have a lot of people who say I’ve inspired them. I give a lot of advice to people,” Gaffin said.

“Some of these people never got in trucks,” Rankin said. “They never drove or they know nothing about trucking. But now they want to become a trucker.”

That can be especially important for Rankin, who hopes her visibility helps to attract other women to the male-dominated industry. Despite her popularity, she says finding acceptance from her peers has been an uphill climb.

“I still struggle now, because they take me as a joke,” she said. “They talk about my nails, my hair like, ‘You too girly, ain’t no way.’ Boy, I work that truck and trailer, you hear me!”

With her success outside of trucking – and the struggle to be taken seriously as a woman in the industry – it would be easy to question what keeps Rankin behind the wheel. However, she says it’s that success that keeps her in the driver’s seat and motivated to recruit others to do the same.

Regardless of their approach, the outcome is similar. Truckers on social media are providing a glimpse into a world many are ignorant about. At the start of the pandemic, average Americans were shown the reality of how important truckers are to their everyday lives. Now, drivers like Gaffin, Rankin and Marchand are shedding light on the good and bad that comes with the job.

They’re becoming the face of an often faceless profession, one that is crucial to the nation’s economic survival. It’s this kind of exposure that can help bring awareness to issues – like lack of safe parking, access to restrooms, and unpaid detention time – that drivers face on daily basis. Whether it’s on YouTube, TikTok, Twitter or any number of other options, social media truckers are helping to reshape the way many think about drivers and the industry as a whole. LL