Iwona Blecharczyk

Polish lorry driver and YouTuber
  • international truck owner-operator,
  • author,
  • Internet personality
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at WikidataYouTube informationAlso known asTrucking GirlChannelsIwona BlecharczykYears active2013–presentGenres
  • Education
  • vlogging
  • travelling
Subscribers0.8 millionTotal views337 millionContents are in
  • Polish
  • American English
Creator Awards
100,000 subscribers
Last updated: 5 February 2024

Iwona Blecharczyk (born 24 September 1987) is a Polish lorry driver, transportation enthusiast and YouTuber. In 2013, she established the channel "Trucking Girl" on YouTube and then, in 2019, was awarded the title of "Barbie Shero" as a role model for girls. In 2021 she established an owner-operator transport company, Imagination Transport.

Biography

She comes from Kosztowa, Subcarpathian Voivodeship.[2] In 2007 she took part in the Miss Polonia beauty contest[3] and reached the finals of Miss Polonia of Podkarpacie in Mielec.[4][5] In 2010, when she graduated from university, Iwona Blecharczyk became a qualified teacher of English as a foreign language.[6] She worked as a minibus driver on the routes from Poland to England,[7] then she worked in the clothing industry.[8] In 2011, she started working as a professional lorry driver.[9]

In 2013, she founded the channel "Trucking Girl" on YouTube: she presents videos taken from her lorry cabin and talks on transport-related topics.[10] The channel is run in two languages – Polish and English. The viewers from Poland account for about half of the audience.[11] Outside Poland, the recordings are statistically most frequently watched in Germany, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.[12] She runs fan pages on Instagram and Facebook, too. In 2017 she was the face of advertising for the EuroShell fleet card.[13]

For six years, Blecharczyk worked in oversize transport, conveying items such as blades for wind turbines.[14] In the period 2017–2018, she travelled to Canada and the United States, where she worked as a driver of specialized lorries, driving along, among others, the Ice Trail and the oil fields.[15][16]

In 2019, Mattel awarded her (as the second Polish woman after Martyna Wojciechowska)[17] the title of Barbie Shero.[18][19] She has become the ambassador for the Volvo Trucks company.[20]

She was invited to participate as a speaker at a TEDx conference[21] and has worked as a volunteer driver.[22] In Poland, Discovery Channel chose Blecharczyk to present the TV series Przygody truckerki (Trucker woman's adventures).[23][24][25]

Articles on Blecharczyk have appeared in, among others, (in German) weekly Die Zeit,[26] Der Spiegel Panorama,[27] (in French) Canadian daily La Presse from Montreal,[28] the website metropolitaine.fr from Bordeaux,[29] and (in Hungarian) the website on transport (vezess.hu)[30]

In 2020, Muza S.A. published a 320-page book by Blecharczyk titled Trucking girl. 70-metrową ciężarówką przez świat (en: Trucking girl. With a 70-meter truck through the world) (ISBN 978-83-287-1519-6), on topics similar to her internet activities.

In 2021, Blecharczyk established her company Imagination Transport,[14] driving her Volvo FH13 truck-and-trailer set.[31] In 2023 the company expanded into oversize transport using a Volvo FH16 and a Goldhofer seven-axle semi-low-loader trailer.[32]

References

  1. ^ JEDZIEMY DO NORWEGII!! WE ARE GOING TO NORWAY!!, event occurs at 21:34, retrieved 2023-02-06
  2. ^ "32-letnia Iwona Blecharczyk, kierowca tira doczekała się własnej Barbie". Radio ZET (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2022-01-24. Retrieved 2022-02-06.
  3. ^ "Seksowna Polka miała być miss, a została kierowcą tira! Iwona Blecharczyk, czyli blond trucking girl". auto.dziennik.pl (in Polish). 26 September 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  4. ^ "Kto zostanie Miss?" (in Polish). 22 June 2007.
  5. ^ "Walczyły najpiękniejsze!" (in Polish). 25 June 2007.
  6. ^ "Ku wolności – kobiety za kierownicą" (in Polish). 24 May 2021.
  7. ^ "Trucking girl z Dubiecka ciężarówką przemierza Europę, Kanadę i Amerykę" (in Polish).
  8. ^ "Iwona Blecharczyk - nasza Barbie Shero, która jeździ 63-tonową ciężarówką" (in Polish). 18 June 2021.
  9. ^ "Kabina ciężarówki zamiast pokoju nauczycielskiego. "Ja chcę po prostu jeździć"" (in Polish).
  10. ^ "Iwona Blecharczyk - YouTube". YouTube (in Polish).
  11. ^ "Iwona nagrywa filmy o swojej pracy. Jest... Kierowcą TIR-a. "Trzeba uważać podczas snu, bo mogą wpuścić gaz przez zamek"" (in Polish).
  12. ^ "Drobna kobieta za kierownicą wielkiej ciężarówki. Rozmowa z Iwoną Blecharczyk | Obcasy.pl Drobna kobieta za kierownicą wielkiej ciężarówki. Rozmowa z Iwoną Blecharczyk" (in Polish). 3 February 2021.
  13. ^ "Vlogerka Iwona Blecharczyk reklamuje karty flotowe euroShell". www.wirtualnemedia.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  14. ^ a b "About us". IMAGINATION Iwona Blecharczyk. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  15. ^ "Rozmowa z Iwoną Blecharczyk, Trucking Girl - tylko transport mnie tak jara :: truck.pl". TruckExpo (in Polish). Retrieved 2022-09-05.
  16. ^ "Delikatna kobieta, która prowadzi po świecie najcięższe ciężarówki. Pochodząca z okolic Przemyśla Iwona Blecharczyk wydała książkę" (in Polish). 22 October 2020.
  17. ^ "Barbie Shero: Oto wyjątkowe kobiety w roli lalek-bohaterek od firmy Mattel. Wśród nich Martyna Wojciechowska" (in Polish). 27 March 2018.
  18. ^ "Iwona Blecharczyk - nasza Barbie Shero, która jeździ 63-tonową ciężarówką". 18 June 2021.
  19. ^ "Hammer-throwing champ joins distinguished list of 'inspirational women' after being turned into Shero Barbie doll". www.thefirstnews.com. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  20. ^ "Iwona Blecharczyk Trucking Girl została ambasadorką Volvo Trucks! | Motocaina.pl". www.motocaina.pl (in Polish). 2021-05-28. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  21. ^ "Rzuciła wszystko i kieruje TIRem: Iwona Blecharczyk na TEDx Warsaw" (in Polish).
  22. ^ Rivero, Nicolás (2022-03-16). "A fleet of volunteer truckers is keeping aid flowing into Ukraine". Quartz. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  23. ^ "Przygody truckerki - odcinek 1 - sezon 1 - streszczenie odcinka - Telemagazyn.pl". www.telemagazyn.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  24. ^ "Przygody truckerki". www.discoverychannel.pl (in Polish). 16 October 2020. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  25. ^ WPROST.pl; Frindt, Magdalena (2020-11-03). ""Wybór wcale nie był trudny". Iwona Blecharczyk odsłania kulisy pracy "Trucking girl"". Wprost (in Polish). Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  26. ^ Wurfel, Carolin (2019-05-13). "ZEIT ONLINE". www.zeit.de (in German). Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  27. ^ "Das Ende einer Männerbastion: Frauen im Riesentruck – »Arte Re:«-Reportage von SPIEGEL TV". Der Spiegel (in German). 23 December 2021.
  28. ^ "Société | À 60 ans, Barbie n'est pas prête à prendre sa retraite". La Presse (in French). 8 April 2019.
  29. ^ "Barbie célèbre les femmes inspirantes de notre monde pour ses 60 ans" (in French). 8 March 2019.
  30. ^ "Kamionsofőrök biztonságát szolgálja ez a fejlesztés". Vezess (in Hungarian). 2022-07-09. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  31. ^ "Iwona Blecharczyk wins the Volvo Trucking Adventure". Volvo Trucks. 28 December 2022. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  32. ^ "Goldhofer Share Success with Volvo Trucks at NordBau 2023". Heavy Lift News. 21 September 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-26.

External links

  • Iwona Blecharczyk's channel on YouTube
  • Personal website Edit this at Wikidata (in Polish)
Authority control databases Edit this at Wikidata
International
  • VIAF
National
  • Poland