Junk-food bellies, greasy T-shirts and a hairy armful of tattoos probably sum up most people’s image of a typical lorry driver. Trucking is the last bastion of machismo. Only about 1% of truckers are women, a smaller proportion than among airline pilots and firefighters.

The trucking industry is short of drivers and has turned to women to fill the gap. So how does it feel to take on macho man at his own game, asks Jane Mulkerrins

“Being a truck driver is something I’ve always wanted to do, I just never got the opportunity,” says Linda Jackson, one of 15 women that trained as large goods vehicle (LGV) drivers in 2005 as part of a Scottish pilot project.