- Angelica Larsson is one of the world's top "trucking influencers" with over 300,000 YouTube subscribers.
- She told Insider her vlogs make her around $6,000 a month — more than double what she makes driving.
- The 31-year-old Swedish trucker wants to inspire women around the world to become truck drivers.
Swedish truck driver Angelica Larsson is one of the world's top "trucking influencers" on social media, making $6,000 per month on YouTube.
That's more than double what she makes hauling freight up Sweden's snowy mountainsides, the 31-year-old said in an interview with Insider. And yet she hasn't spent any of the income she's earned from content creation, she said.
Instead, she's saving the money to travel and mentor young women looking to break into the trucking industry.
"In Europe overall, like in Bulgaria or Russia, there are not many girls driving," she said. "I have a lot of followers from outside Sweden … it's important for them to see that girls can drive trucks, too."
Larsson began posting fitness content on Instagram in 2014 until she quickly realized people were more interested in her job as a truck driver. Today, she has 334,000 Instagram followers and 319,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel, which she launched three years ago.
Larsson said she initially gained her following because it was a "little odd" for a 5-foot-tall woman to be operating heavy equipment in dangerous weather conditions.
"I'm a small girl who drives big trucks," she told Insider. "Ten years ago, that wasn't so common."
While many users comment on Larsson's appearance — some going as far to crown her the world's "most beautiful truck driver" — she's equally recognized for her technical skills. Videos show Larsson taking off a water bottle cap with a forklift, maneuvering icy mountain roads in reverse, and driving everything from bulldozers and Caterpillars to snow plows.
"I want to show the world that a girl can do the same thing as guys can," she told Insider. "I feel like that is kind of my purpose."
As Larsson's digital presence has grown, so has the broader trucking community on social media. A recent industry round-up of the top 25 highest-earning truckers on YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram estimate payments of up to $4,000 per post. Truck drivers Adryana Oltean and Alex Nino both have over 1 million followers on TikTok.
Larsson told Insider that her earnings were reported inaccurately, adding that she doesn't make any money from Instagram. When it comes to TikTok, she said she's too busy managing her other accounts to create a new one.
Posting one YouTube video a week takes around 20 hours, Larsson said, as she records, edits, and distributes the vlogs herself. She recently started a new driving position and requested one day off a week to focus on creating content. Currently, her YouTube channel takes up around 50% of her workweek, she added.
While the channel is her personal passion, internet fame has also brought unwanted attention.
In one video, Larsson told viewers that because personal information is publicly searchable in Sweden, multiple stalkers have shown up at her house, her parent's house, and even followed her to work.
"I think it's a little bit scary and ... I don't feel very comfortable," she said in a September 2020 video. "You shouldn't come to a person's home like that. It's not okay."
This eventually caused Larsson to move and create a "fake identity" to avoid future confrontations. Beyond safety concerns, she told Insider that she fears her dual-career paths as a trucker and influencer may get in the way of starting a family.
"I really want to get done with this big project that I'm working on," she said, referencing her travel and mentorship plans that have been pushed back due to the pandemic.
"I really hope ... it won't be too late for me to start a family and become a mom. That is what stresses me out the most."