It is not a job that a woman would be expected to be seen in, but Joycy Lyngdoh from Meghalaya, navigated her passion for driving to become the first female truck driver with Amazon’s trucking partner in India and redefine stereotypical gender roles.

After taking up driving as a full-time job to earn a living, she has motivated many other female drivers in her community. A seasoned professional with over six years of driving experience, Lyngdoh, 35, dared to turn her passion for driving into a profession and cannot imagine herself doing anything else.

It's the cherry on top when your family is your source of strength and encouragement.

“I've been the sole breadwinner in my family for a long time, supporting my mother and three younger sisters. To make ends meet after completing my education, I worked in several companies in Guwahati, including a steel company and as a store manager at a local shop. As a daily wage earner, I learned to drive with the support and guidance of friends and driving a school bus. I realised that, besides enjoying it, I would like to pursue it as a profession,” says Lyngdoh.

She continued to work as a part-time driver for various other temporary driving job opportunities across the city. Her passion for driving eventually led her to enroll with Amazon’s trucking partner as a driver where she has been working for the past three months. Lyngdoh was quick to orient herself with Amazon’s operational guidelines for reliable deliveries in and around Guwahati.

“Initially, when I started my career as a female driver, most workstations remained male dominant and I was anxious about safety measures for women specifically.  However, I learned that to ensure safety and well-being of women drivers, Amazon conducts specific programs that include regular safety trainings, meetings, professional development sessions and seminars on stress management and work-life balance which helped me in my career journey,” Lyngdoh tells People Matters. 

“As I grew up in the region, I am very familiar with the routes and turns here. Following my passion and driving a truck in a region  where I have lived my entire life was not very difficult for me. In fact, it is now a source of motivation for me. Despite the fact that the profession is mostly male-dominated, I never felt overwhelmed and and in fact, I appreciate the respect I receive because of the nature of her job,” she adds. 

Lyngdoh says being the first woman truck driver at Amazon, fills up her heart with pride. “I feel I might be able to inspire more women to work in logistics and operations.”

Lyngdoh loves being out on the road traveling to different places and meeting new people and says this opportunity inspired her to pursue her passion and live a self-sufficient life.

"My advice to women who want to pursue driving as a profession is that if you believe in yourself, new opportunities will open up for you, just go for it. You will face challenges but where there is a will, there is a way. Live each day as it comes, make the most of your life by living it on your own terms and never hesitate to follow your passion and be financially independent,” she says. 

Amazon has partnered with more than 500 trucking partners in India who ensure on-time, reliable and safe movement of customer packages across the country.

The company facilitates the trucking partners to secure health and accident insurance benefits for drivers like Lyngdoh, by engaging directly with its preferred insurance providers.

Further, it has enabled drivers through technology-driven solutions for safe driving and to move packages efficiently by guiding them on navigation, on time movement, and to report delays and disruptions while moving from one location to another.

“We also have programmes on driver safety training, which provides dedicated road safety ambassadors at each of the Amazon sites, providing training to drivers on important aspects of road safety and inspecting vehicles per week on visually inspectable parameters,” says Venkatesh Tiwari, Director - Middle Mile Operations, Amazon India.

“Third-party trucking service providers are the core of our operations and we have collaborated with them to build programmes that allow them to learn safe driving techniques and gather route knowledge. Joyce has successfully participated in these programs and serves as a great example for all those who are looking for new opportunities in the logistics field. People like her are driving the principle of an Atmanirbhar Bharat, and we are proud to be empowering them,” he adds.