Meet TruckerGirl – Special Guest at Full of the Pipe 2025 

07/07/2025

Shannon Pettinger, also known as Truckergirl, is an inspirational UK-based female HGV driver and online content creator who will be displaying her beloved customised Scania V8 at Full of the Pipe this year. A genuine trucker through and through, Shannon can’t wait to finally make her maiden voyage to FOTP and is looking forward to a fun weekend in Ireland. 

TruckerGirl’s journey has been a fascinating one to follow and the humble Doncaster trucker has - much to her surprise – become something of a social media sensation, wowing truckers with her fantastic and informed content across all the digital platforms. 

Shannon purchased her trusty Scania V8 500 in January, 2023 and has lovingly, meticulously and painstakingly (quite literally – more about that later!) customised it to her precise preferences into a striking working and show truck. The Doncaster girl, who will be a special guest of the organisers, is excited and looking forward to Full of the Pipe 2025: 

“I am, actually – I know it’s going to be a great weekend. I’ve been wanting to go for a few years but never got over and I was honoured to be asked. When Kevin messaged me on TikTok, I couldn’t believe it. It’s an amazing honour. 

“I bought the truck from Ireland a couple of years ago and it’s going to be nice to bring it back to its home soil. While I bought it in Belfast, it was originally from the Republic of Ireland, so it’ll be a homecoming of sorts for the truck. I can tell you I’ve never had a single problem with that truck. It was clearly very well kept and it goes to show that the Irish really do love and look after their trucks.” 

Shannon always dreamed of owning and running her own truck and that dream became a reality at the start of 2023 when she invested money earned through her successful online ventures into the Scania currently shared with her husband. She hopes to add a second at some point in the future and possibly a third thereafter but has had second thoughts about extending the fleet beyond two or three max: 

“I was the majority driver and then my husband passed his truck test and we both drive it now. It’s become my pride and joy and I’m very particular about who I’m going to allow to drive it. Ideally, I want to do more European work in the future where we could both head off together and double-man it.” 

As well as literally delivering the goods, TruckerGirl also creates interesting content for her online followers. “Because I’m also making content, I can do the haulage part at cost price or close to it. So the rates are very competitive, although you’ll still have people wanting it for cheaper. Trucking really is a cutthroat business, but it’s something I always wanted to do.” 

How did Shannon get interested in trucks and trucking? “You could say I was always a Tomboy and was into 4x4s and trucks and stuff like that. I was raised on a small holding and was into off-roading, etc. and my original plan was actually to go into the army but I failed the medical and ended up working in a bar pulling pints. At that stage, I didn’t know what road I wanted to go down… 

“My friend worked for her dad on aggregates in an 8-wheeler and suggested truck driving to me. Since I was 12 I was able to reverse trailers with horseboxes or whatever on them and it was something I was quite good at. I got my Class 2 at 18 and then six months later got my Class 1 because I wanted to roll with the big boys driving artics. 

“Because of my age at the time, there weren’t a lot of people prepared to take me on. I did agency work for nine months and then a local company offered me a full-time job and I was with them for eight years. Then I started the social media stuff and was able to buy my own truck and have been loving life ever since.” 

Shannon is quite fortunate to be able to avoid the stress of having to run the truck full-time to earn a living as she has a steady stream of revenue from her content creation. “It’s nice that I can pick and choose when I want to drive the truck. Truck-driving is hard work. Maybe not physically that demanding but it is tough mentally. When you are on the road for hours and hours every day on your own, you have a lot of time to think and can end up in a bad place mentally, so it’s nice that I can pick and choose and I really do have unbelievable respect and admiration for anybody who drives a truck for a living.” 

TruckerGirl can’t wait to drive her Scania into Mondello Park for the first time: “We’ve been going to truck shows for the past ten years. I used to take my old work vehicle. It was a nice clean fleet and they all looked nice but mine was the only one with carpet etc. inside and I looked after that truck really well. 

“The appearance of the truck is so important to me. I’ve customised the interior of the V8 and I’ve taken a close personal interest in every upgrade that’s been made. Any work that was done on it, I was involved in. It’s only a 500, the baby of the V8s, but I just had to get a V8. I’d love a bigger one, with a tag maybe, maybe a 660, but one step at a time. We want to invest in a house first and then see about the second truck.” 

When the truck was being sprayed, Shannon used a sprayer who only has a car garage, so each panel had to be taken off one at a time and sprayed and then put back together. Her husband quite literally almost lost a finger when they were stripping out the interior and his wedding ring got caught on a screw. “He degloved his finger and we’ve literally put blood, sweat and tears into it but it’s been quite a journey. 

“And it’s a journey that thankfully people have enjoyed following. When I applied for my operator’s licence, I had to go to a public hearing to get it and a lot of people followed that. It’s weird how everything has worked out because when I first started TikTok I didn’t want to be ‘somebody’. People just started following me on all the social media platforms. 

“I haven’t changed at all and I’m still just me,” Shannon concludes. “When people want to have something signed or to have a photo taken with me, it’s still very surprising and I always say yes. Once I started to talk to the camera on the various platforms and people could see that I could fix things and that I know what I’m talking about when it comes to trucks, I think that sparked a lot of interest. 

“It’s all still a bit strange to me but it’s good. Going forward, I’d like the trucking to be a family business. If I get a second truck, my husband could drive it and if there was to be a third, then my brother-in-law might drive it. As I said, I’m very particular about who should be driving them as these are precious vehicles and they cost a lot of money. Some people view them as workhorses but a truck is more than that. The last thing you want is an employee who doesn’t appreciate what they are driving; you want them to love it like it’s their own.” 

Full of the Pipe Truck Show Ireland is on July 12 & 13 in Mondello Park