For years, tractor-trailers were viewed by women from below. From a sidewalk, a gas station, a bus seat, or a car window. Enormous, distant, imposing. Vehicles that seemed to belong only to men.
But something changed for eight women who decided to stop watching the cars go by and start imagining themselves behind the wheel.
The Association of Daimler Commercial Vehicles Distributors Mexico (ADAVEC) , the Comprehensive Management Center (CEDEMI), Daimler Truck Mexico and Tecnomotum , together with the Association of Women Operators (AMO) , celebrated the graduation of the first generation made up entirely of women operators in Mexico City, where eight participants completed five weeks of specialized training and passed with scores above 80 percent.
In addition to technical training , the graduates passed their medical exams and were ready to begin the process of obtaining or renewing their federal license.
The graduates of this first generation were Edith Gabriela Quintero Hernández, Brenda Melgarejo Morales, Erika Díaz García, Laura Cruz Álvarez, Elizabeth Cuahuizo García, Luz Anel Gil Desgarennes and Jocabed Reza León.
The ceremony was marked by hugs , tears, and testimonies where the operators themselves spoke of exhausting days, fears, simulators, maneuvers, and dreams they had kept for years.
Marcela Barreiro, president and CEO of Daimler Truck Mexico , acknowledged that this generation represents an important step forward for an industry where female participation is still limited.
“We love seeing how women are making these very important advances in this industry,” she said during the ceremony.
Beyond technical training, the project also seeks to create opportunities within a sector facing a severe shortage of drivers. Organizations such as the National Chamber of Freight Transportation (Canacar) and the International Road Transport Union (IRU) have estimated that Mexico faces a deficit of approximately 99,000 drivers.
Therefore, during the graduation ceremony, the opening of the second course exclusively for female operators in Mexico City was also announced, with registration beginning on May 25 and classes starting on July 6.
From the dream of a gas station to the wheel of a semi-truck
For Edith Gabriela Quintero Hernández, the dream began amidst the smell of gasoline, the roar of engines, and the endless coming and going of tractor-trailers she watched pass by during her shifts at a gas station. While many only saw enormous vehicles crossing the highway, she imagined something different: her hands holding the steering wheel.
“I want to drive one,” he would repeat to himself every time he saw those trucks go by, which were almost always driven by men.
At 34, a single mother with two daughters, she decided to risk everything for the dream she’d been pursuing for over a decade. For five weeks, her days began before dawn . By four in the morning, she was already awake, preparing everything at home, taking care of her motherly responsibilities before heading out to Cedemi. She would take the Mexico City Metro in the early hours of the morning, and when she was still working, she would finish her classes and go straight to her night shift.
They were days of exhaustion, simulators, maneuvers, sleepless nights and doubts, but also of a conviction that had been growing silently for years.
“It’s a dream I’ve had for many years,” he told T21.
Today, after pursuing opportunities for more than 16 years, Edith looks at the diploma in her hands and sums up the entire journey with a single word: success.
“We transporters are the link between point A and point B”
For Brenda Melgarejo Morales, trucks were never just machines crossing the city. For years she drove them on deliveries, routes, and long days behind the wheel of three-and-a-half-ton vehicles , but an idea kept growing inside her, one that wouldn’t go away: she wanted to go further.
Because for Brenda, driving wasn’t just about following a route. It was about feeling free. It was about finding herself along the way.
“Personally, my passion is driving,” he shared.
At 45, after working for delivery companies and navigating streets where time always seems to move faster than traffic , he learned that behind the wheel lies an enormous responsibility. He speaks of discipline, safety, and a profession that silently sustains the daily lives of thousands of people.
“We transporters are like that main link between point A and point B,” he said.
But behind that dream was also a small voice pushing her forward . It was the voice of Sofia, her 12-year-old daughter, who became the most important driving force behind Brenda’s decision to take the next step and sit behind a fifth wheel.
“Mom, with everything,” she remembers telling him.
And perhaps there, in that simple phrase, the journey truly began.
Because while for years many women grew up watching tractor-trailers go by from the sidewalk, Brenda decided to cross that line that seemed to separate dreams from reality. Today, mother and daughter are part of a different story. One where the highways are no longer viewed only from the outside, but also from inside the cab.
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