The Labor Practices of Truck Drivers from a Mediatization Perspective

YAN Li¹, CHANG Shifeng²
(1. School of Communication, Henan Kaifeng College of Science and Technology and Media, Kaifeng, Henan 475000; 2. School of Journalism and Communication, Henan University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450046)

Abstract

[Purpose] Intelligent media have enabled truck drivers isolated in their "island" cabs to reconnect with the world, fundamentally transforming their labor processes and labor relations. This paper aims to explore the changes in truck drivers' labor methods and labor relations in a mediatized society. [Method] Using netnography and in-depth interviews, this study analyzes the evolving relationships between labor environment, labor behavior, and labor relations for truck drivers in a mediatized society from three dimensions: media extension, media domestication, and media presentation. [Results] Media has profoundly influenced the entire labor process of truck drivers, who have leveraged media to significantly enhance their labor capacity; they have constructed a semi-organized virtual workplace through media, and the transformation of labor relations has, in turn, nourished the entire labor process. [Conclusion] The deep mediatization of truck drivers is becoming a "mixed reality" that transcends the real world while intertwining with it.

Keywords: truck drivers; media practice; mediatization
CLC Number: G202
Document Code: A
Article ID: 1671-0134(2025)03-44-06
DOI: 10.19483/j.cnki.11-4653/n.2025.03.008
Citation Format: YAN Li, CHANG Shifeng. The Labor Practices of Truck Drivers from a Mediatization Perspective [J]. China Media Technology, 2025, 32(3): 44-48, 65.

In the mobile internet era, media use is embedded in daily life, with media environments gradually merging with living and labor scenarios. Human labor capacity is continuously extended through media, while individuals are simultaneously shaped by media. As the essence of humanity [1], labor has also been significantly influenced by intelligent media. As the primary laborers in road freight transport, intelligent media and mobile internet have substantially extended truck drivers' capabilities and reshaped their daily labor. Truck drivers' tools are no longer limited to wheels and steering wheels; they use media to greatly enhance their driving, observation, and planning abilities; they construct semi-organized virtual workplaces through media; under the operation of media logic, the domestication of media also affects the entire labor process, making their work more convenient, efficient, and higher quality. Mobile truck drivers' labor processes have adaptively changed under the wave of mediatization, with virtual labor groups beginning to connect. Through observation and interviews with truck drivers, this study finds that drivers have shifted from single, narrow cabs to multiple labor scenarios constructed by media. Media has gradually entered truck drivers' labor and life processes such as information transmission and emotional exchange, and they domesticate the media they use during labor to improve work efficiency. The study reveals that media has been embedded throughout truck drivers' labor practices, and drivers are no longer isolated individuals. Through media connections, they become virtual groups intertwined with reality, continuously influencing their overall labor landscape.

Truck drivers' production and living scenes are relatively singular. In their labor state, production and life are highly integrated; almost all eating, living, and traveling depend on their labor tools. The truck drivers' labor tool—the truck itself—has mobile characteristics, placing truck drivers in a constant state of mobility, making it difficult for their labor process to resonate with television media. Before new online media intervened in their work, truck drivers' information collection capabilities were relatively limited, and their information search channels were confined to truck-related fields. Their information integration capabilities remained stagnant in the broadcast media era compared to the times. Therefore, mobile internet and smartphone-based intelligent media have brought disruptive transformations to truck drivers' labor practices compared to other labor groups. The high-risk nature of road transport for truck drivers also brings relatively high returns. Their higher income provides the economic foundation to access intelligent media. Thus, when intelligent media emerged, truck drivers smoothly entered the mediatization wave, with their media practices essentially leaping directly from the broadcast era to the intelligent media era, making this group particularly typical for research.

This study selected 20 individuals as in-depth interview subjects. Among them: basic driving assistance devices such as smartphones, dashcams, and cabin monitors achieved 100% coverage; full-vehicle monitoring coverage reached 40%; six trucks were equipped with fuel consumption sensors and similar devices like "Chezhiguan"; one truck had an expensive intelligent vehicle-mounted central control system. Additionally, there are "black box" data collection devices in trucks, which may come from government authorities, truck manufacturers, or logistics management platforms. The basic characteristics of interviewees are as follows.

Table 1 [TABLE:1] Basic Characteristics of Interviewees

Respondent Location Employment Type Interview Date Age Years in Industry 01 Henan Anyang Self/Other-employed 4.07 02 Hebei Shijiazhuang Self/Other-employed 4.07 03 Henan Nanyang 4.11 04 Sichuan Yibin Self/Other-employed 4.11 05 Henan Sanmenxia 4.19 06 Shandong Qingzhou 4.19 07 Henan Xinxiang Self/Other-employed 4.19 08 Sichuan Mianyang 5.14 09 Gansu Lanzhou 5.14 10 Henan Xinyang 5.14 11 Henan Zhumadian 5.14 12 Henan Shangqiu 5.14 13 Sichuan Bazhong 5.14 14 Shanxi Lüliang 5.14 15 Shaanxi Hanzhong Self/Other-employed 5.14 16 Hebei Langfang 17 Shandong Qingdao 18 Sichuan Suining 19 Henan Xinxiang 20 Hebei Handan

Note: The table shows partial data as presented in the original text.

1.2 Media Embedded in Truck Drivers' Labor Scenarios

In their work, truck drivers' media usage scenarios can be roughly categorized into three types: first, assisting daily work, where smartphones are deeply integrated with labor and life, allowing drivers to complete related preparatory work while using their phones, such as advance freight order acceptance and route planning; second, maintaining social relationships, using relevant social software installed on mobile phones to communicate emotionally with family, friends, and colleagues, achieving the maintenance and development of interpersonal relationships; and third, monitoring and detecting truck status, using monitoring and detection media to conduct maintenance work on trucks, reducing time and monetary costs of multiple visits to professional repair shops on one hand, and on the other hand, media monitoring benefits truck drivers' driving safety.

1.2.1 Labor Work Usage

In truck drivers' labor scenarios, mobile media is deeply embedded in drivers' work and life. Two types of media scenes, represented by map navigation and cargo matching, have greatly facilitated truck drivers' daily labor work. Truck drivers use map navigation as their primary reference for daily driving, planning routes in advance for cargo transport while also increasing their sense of security on unfamiliar roads. "I used to dare not run to places I didn't know at all. It made sense that strangers in strange lands face difficulties. Now you could ask me to drive from south to north across the country, and it wouldn't be a problem. With navigation, I can go anywhere safely, even on highways," reported Respondent 07, indicating that navigation apps help them reach farther destinations. Cargo matching platform apps are another commonly used type of app on truck drivers' phones, such as "Huochebang" and "Yunmanman." Shippers with logistics needs post on these platforms, and drivers use their phones to accept orders, enabling direct communication with shippers about cargo transport matters. "The probability of returning empty (empty return trips, a wasteful way of returning) used to be very high. Now I just open my phone and check if there are suitable orders on the platform. I won't return empty anymore, at least the fuel isn't burned for nothing, which means earning more." "Now with freight platforms, although they take a commission, I also avoid having to build relationships with freight station staff, which costs a lot in meals and entertainment. Mainly, on the platform, you can see clearly the transport volume and earnings, so you won't work confusedly for others." The emergence of cargo matching platforms has eliminated the difficulty of finding cargo sources, solving the invisible labor headaches that previously plagued truck drivers. Media plays the role of an intermediary in labor scenarios, coordinating routes between truck drivers and destinations, and providing transport solutions for both drivers and shippers.

1.2.2 Labor Relations Maintenance

Truck drivers are also individuals within society. Although their work nature concentrates their social activities in their trucks, they still need to communicate with the outside world, and the long-distance information transmission characteristics of media precisely meet truck drivers' communication needs. Most truck drivers use social tools like WeChat and QQ for socializing, maintaining family relationships and other social connections. Some truck drivers follow truck communication forums such as "Kayoutudi" (Truck Friends Zone) and "Kacheren" (Truck People), where much information related to truck maintenance, transport policies, and mutual assistance among drivers is shared on the platform. Through such software, truck drivers have established a semi-organized "truck friends circle" that could not have existed in the traditional media era. For instance, when encountering severe weather, some highways are usually closed. At such times, information from truck friends becomes particularly timely—asking a question in the group yields first-hand news ahead of others. "When encountering problems on the road, just mention it in the group or ask on the forum. As long as there are brothers nearby, there will basically be a response soon." The use of instant messaging applications (WeChat, QQ, etc.) and social media (Kayoutudi, Douyin, Kuaishou, etc.) enables truck drivers to obtain more external information and emotional comfort. Drivers whose labor activities are concentrated in their trucks can better feel the humanistic care brought by media, and truck drivers in "isolated islands" now have emotional land to rely on provided by media. Beyond emotional exchange and information transmission, media use has also influenced the characteristics of truck drivers' family relationships: Respondent 08 stated, "In the past, making a phone call required finding a public phone booth, which was too inconvenient. Now with video calls, family members can see me and my truck, and they don't worry about me living poorly on the road. When children see my work scenes, they understand that I don't earn money easily, and arguments have decreased." As social beings, truck drivers in the closed labor space of a truck cabin need external forces to intervene even more. Media in truck drivers' labor space transcends temporal and spatial distances, making communication between truck drivers and the outside world possible, and labor relations are also maintained and developed in media scenarios.

1.2.3 Labor Tools Monitoring

Truck drivers also use certain media to monitor vehicle status and ensure driving safety, such as dashcams, various sensors for tire pressure/fuel consumption/speed, fatigue driving detectors, and safety warning devices. This "invisible" media accompanies drivers throughout their entire labor process, playing the role of a "safety officer" from the start to the end of driving. To some extent, it even replaces traditional co-drivers, escorting drivers' labor processes while significantly improving safety and reducing labor purchase expenses. In interviews and group chats, most drivers stated that intelligent media represented by various monitoring devices greatly reduces their workload and brings them more peace of mind and reassurance. Respondent 15 (a "truck spouse," i.e., a truck driver's wife who used to accompany him) expressed that she previously had to ride along because it was "too worrisome." "With only this one breadwinner in the family, driving is so dangerous. I was really afraid something would happen to him on the road. I had no choice but to stay by his side and watch him. Now with this complete set of monitoring tools, which are smarter and more alert than me, I feel much more relieved." Media serving as monitors also acts as another layer of safety protection in truck drivers' work, making their work environment safer. Real-time dynamic monitoring through big data also makes truck drivers' transport labor more convenient.

2. Media Extension: The Mediatized Labor of Truck Drivers

The concept of mediatization was first proposed by Stig Hjarvard to refer to an institutionalized practice, namely how social structures serve as resources for human activities and social interactions, and how human interactions, in turn, contribute to the reproduction of institutions and structures [2]. Intelligent media born in the mobile internet era have integrated media logic into the social operation system, becoming the foundational architecture for establishing the entire social system. In truck drivers' labor processes, media use phenomena have gradually emerged, and media is now permeating the entire labor process of truck drivers.

2.1 Labor Information: Semi-Organized Communication

When trucks hit the road, traffic and road condition information is crucial, affecting whether drivers' entire labor process can proceed smoothly. In the broadcast telephone era, truck drivers who used phones and walkie-talkies to transmit road condition information mostly had fixed routes or belonged to small fleet organizations. Apart from these, most truck drivers relied primarily on traffic radio, using car radios or other wireless broadcasting methods to learn about road conditions at their destinations in advance. This information, processed through multiple transmissions, was fragmented, and the method of obtaining information was highly random and unstable. The popularization of intelligent media has made the organized development of truck drivers possible. Truck drivers who share various types of information through smartphones and other smart devices can communicate conveniently. Truck drivers connected through smart devices have gradually shifted toward "group" communication methods. After 2014, with the emergence of organized truck friend organizations such as "Kayoutudi" (Truck Friends Zone) and "Chuanhua Anxin Yizhan" (Chuanhua Safe Station), the truck driver group transitioned from an unorganized stage to a "re-organization" stage. The urgent need for target information, consistent group orientation, and the preconditions for organization, combined with various factors, have made truck drivers more inclined to share information, help each other on the road, and gain benefits through "mutual assistance" behaviors. Some drivers who previously hired dedicated "cargo finders" believe that the emergence of smartphones, sensors, and freight platforms has freed them from the information constraints of the broadcast era. As laborers, their labor radius and efficiency have significantly improved.

2.2 Utilization and Integration of Labor Information

After media has extended and strengthened truck drivers' various labor capacities, it has gradually integrated into their daily labor. The media extension for truck drivers' labor is like an external brain, systematically integrating their fragmented and complex labor tasks: destination guidance, route planning, speed control, and full-process monitoring. The entire labor process of truck drivers is influenced by intelligent media, with each link orderly connected and smoothly operating, guiding truck drivers to complete their labor faster and more effortlessly. Truck drivers' labor standards are gradually permeated by media, reflecting a pan-mediatization logic. To a certain extent, media dominates truck drivers' real-world actions. Media logic profoundly influences truck drivers' labor trajectories, methods, and patterns. Previously, truck drivers needed to obtain cargo information and plan routes through "information departments," a method that was time-consuming, labor-intensive, and highly random. Freight platforms directly connect shippers and drivers, allowing drivers to accept orders in advance during rest breaks before reaching their destinations, with platforms and map software directly planning itineraries for the coming days. During the journey, media continuously influences truck drivers' labor rhythms—for example, map software automatically broadcasts information about scenic spots, culture, and history of each region drivers pass through; during short breaks, short-video apps push local specialties, snacks, and famous shops to truck drivers based on location; through instant messaging software, truck drivers can get to know many "virtual workmates," some of whom even connect offline by taking advantage of their mobility. Media has transformed the monotonous "origin-destination" progression into a forward-moving approach that constantly generates contact and connection with the surroundings along the route.

2.3 Labor Companionship: Multi-Sensory Entertainment

For truck drivers, the cab is both a workspace and a private space. Media changes the attributes of the cab, which is no longer just a traditional driver's compartment. Using functions of smart media devices such as video chats, real-time live streaming interactions, and broadcast audio reception, truck drivers can communicate with the outside world without being confined to the cab while driving, transforming it into a "parlor." Contact with the outside world enables truck drivers to obtain a sense of virtual companionship of "others being present" in real space, alleviating to some extent the loneliness caused by long periods of solitary driving. Since truck drivers' visual senses must remain absolutely focused during driving, "companionship through sound" has integrated into their daily lives, aligning with McLuhan's concept of the "auditory man"—when summarizing broadcast media in the electronic media era, McLuhan proposed that radio is a "powerful force that can turn mind and society into a resonating box of合二为一" [3], and that sound media possesses the unique advantage of "full-scene accompaniment." Intelligent media and mobile internet have further digitized, mobilized, and liberated this "full-scene accompaniment," giving truck drivers maximum freedom in content selection, listening time, and listening methods. Using the combination of intelligent media and cab audio systems, truck drivers can freely choose to enter a "multi-threaded" shifting work/entertainment state: using visual senses to observe road conditions; using tactile senses to drive the vehicle; using auditory senses to listen to programs and navigation information, and even using voice assistants to arrange next-step work plans. As truck drivers drive trucks to change locations between different cities, they themselves also cross different content scenes through audio platforms, achieving "second-long transitions" through "spatial montage" [4]. Immersed in auditory scenes jointly constructed by the combination of sound media and audio content, truck drivers' partial attention also completes entertainment and leisure. In this way, truck drivers conduct a small portion of labor force reproduction through media during the labor process.

3. Media Domestication: Adjustment of Truck Drivers' Labor Behavior

Against the backdrop of media being "embedded" in life, the space of media use has shifted from the public domain to the private domain, marking the establishment of the domestication relationship between humans and technology—technology has begun to be "embedded" in people's daily lives [5]. Users can connect different functions and things through media use strategies, thereby making daily life more rationalized. For this study, objectification and integration manifest as adjustments in labor behavior. Truck drivers integrate media into their labor process through different practical methods, and a certain degree of resistance consciousness emerges during the labor process.

3.1 Labor Tools: Trucks Becoming Drivers' Extensions

Intelligent media enables the entire labor process of truck drivers to be digitally manifested on various media platforms, making their entire labor process "quantifiable" and "traceable"—real-time recording of truck speed, trajectory, routes, and stops through satellite positioning technology; using in-vehicle smart sensors for real-time monitoring of driving actions, promptly alerting various potentially dangerous driving behaviors; establishing analysis models based on data such as vehicle fuel consumption and maintenance costs to optimize cost control, providing valuable optimization suggestions for drivers' vehicle operations. Based on these technologies, comprehensive vehicle solutions built around the vehicle obtain daily driving data, analyze and optimize it through data technology, and ultimately re-present their influence on truck drivers in media form. The truck is no longer merely the driver's labor tool but also the foundation for the driver's survival and life, and even a medium for the driver to conduct social behaviors with the outside world. Using the truck, drivers can skillfully connect with other people and things. "The medium is the extension of man." McLuhan examined media through the scale of human senses, essentially viewing media as having substitutive value for certain human senses [6]. Starting from human subjectivity, Paul Levinson proposed the theories of media humanization and compensation, arguing that media technology continuously compensates for the shortcomings of previous media during iteration and increasingly conforms to human usage needs [7]. The truck driver group, neglected by media in the traditional media era, has used intelligent media in the mobile internet era to connect labor tools and laborers, truly achieving the "virtual entity" of truck drivers—even in virtual spaces constructed by media, truck drivers can exist in an embodied form. Trucks become closely related to drivers during the process of media domestication, and drivers also use media in this process to increase their mastery of trucks, thereby achieving more efficient truck transport work.

3.2 Labor Monitoring: Evasion and Adaptation to Media

When regulatory departments use media to manage drivers, truck drivers also use media in reverse to "battle wits" with regulatory departments. Various electronic eyes, speed detectors, and violation cameras are set up by regulatory departments and are the external media devices that interact most with truck drivers "on the road." Comprehensive three-dimensional monitoring equipment breaks the spatial barriers inside and outside the cab where truck drivers are located, constructing a "panopticon." Intelligent monitoring and various sensor devices keep truck drivers' labor processes under constant surveillance, providing guarantees for drivers' driving safety and offering technical foundations for full-process, fully automated supervision by traffic regulatory departments. Media constitutes a comprehensive three-dimensional panopticon, but truck drivers do not passively accept regulation and control from intelligent devices. Human subjective agency enables them to use media in reverse to evade these monitoring devices and even use media logic to avoid potential risks. For example, truck drivers use map navigation and their own driving experience to reduce speed and regulate driving behavior in advance at certain confirmed monitoring points to avoid being captured for violations by surveillance. However, the "intelligence" of intelligent media remains limited, and many unreasonable aspects arise in traffic review systems that require truck drivers to compensate with their own actions. During interviews, more than one driver complained about being misunderstood by "foolish monitoring," resulting in inexplicable traffic violations. For instance: the system's color resolution cannot match the naked eye, and when drivers wear dark clothing, it cannot distinguish the presence of seat belts, leading to misjudgments that drivers are operating without seat belts; a dog passing by the roadside is identified as a pedestrian, and the driver is deemed to have failed to yield to a "pedestrian." These are inconveniences brought to drivers by media logic. However, despite this unintelligent yet intelligent media logic, drivers are still willing to use it as a standard and change their behavior: placing toilet paper on their chest specifically for seat belt detection systems to recognize, holding two phones to evade health code and travel code checks, specifically looking for camera-free areas when parking, etc.

4. Media Presentation: Connected Laborers

Man is the sum total of all social relations. The daily life of truck drivers is driving trucks alone on the road. This island-like life gives truck drivers few opportunities for face-to-face communication with others. However, through mobile intelligent devices and utilizing the instant sharing characteristics of mobile internet information, truck drivers connect in cyberspace and can form a community atmosphere within small circles. The truck friends community has become the primary location of relationships for truck drivers. Colleague relationships, as one of truck drivers' main social connections, have become increasingly important under the influence of intelligent media. The "virtual workplace" is constructed through the joint maintenance of the spirit of truck friends in network society, and as a platform, it extends a pragmatism-oriented industrial chain and a virtual solidarity atmosphere related to group honor [8]. The truck driver group has completed semi-organization with the help of media technology in this process, and media has become an important way for truck drivers to connect and integrate into society.

4.1 Virtual Workplace: Semi-Organized Truck Driver Groups

The "re-organization" of truck friends on social networking platforms has constructed a "virtual workplace" with obvious professionalism and group characteristics. Their unique "virtual workplace" integrates three orientations—professional identity, emotional value, and practical value—forming a new type of self-employed laborer alliance. Through media, truck drivers can obtain a sense of virtual peer presence, giving them workmates similar to those in a workplace where they can share driving experiences and improve skills. Online social media breaks temporal and spatial barriers, providing drivers with needed road condition information and emotional value to continue their profession. Real-time road condition information sharing within WeChat and QQ groups can build a virtual "road condition live broadcast room" within the platform. Even when truck drivers are alone in the narrow cab, they can communicate with workmates about route planning, labor schemes, and other labor details to successfully complete truck transport work.

Truck drivers' spontaneous maintenance behavior toward their online communities reflects their virtual workplace honor. The author observed several road condition exchange groups over a long period. There is basically no idle chatter in these groups, nor any reward mechanisms. The groups only have spontaneous reports of "location + road condition + event + time," enabling truck drivers in the same area to quickly obtain high-quality surrounding road condition information. Such road condition information has three main characteristics: first, real-time updates; second, high randomness; third, timely response and adjustment capabilities. Real-time updated random information helps drivers who later travel to the same location efficiently understand road conditions and respond accordingly. During the pandemic, such WeChat groups provided tremendous help for truck drivers' labor. On the surface, truck drivers' spontaneous "leaving traces" in groups—posting and sharing information—appears to be altruistic. In the long run, this is both self-image construction and sharing incentives for other drivers, representing a pragmatism-oriented information sharing work.

4.2 Pragmatism-Oriented Virtual Solidarity

For truck drivers traveling alone on the road, there are four most important mutual assistance needs in their work: bargaining, debt collection, rescue, and identity recognition. These four needs drive truck drivers to unite actively or passively in the "self-employed" market where everyone fights for themselves, forming an "organized" alliance with a sense of identity and action. This "organized" alliance can play a significant role when facing external pressures (delayed payments, breakdowns, accidents, etc.). Even when truck friends need rescue, they prioritize mutual assistance over official road rescue agencies. This virtual "organized" alliance also influences offline activities through online connections. For truck driver groups who consider their trucks as home, most maintain good cooperative relationships with local repair shops and parts stores that meet each other's needs. When drivers travel to unfamiliar work locations and face strange partners, it's difficult to establish trust quickly. When needing to purchase parts or repair trucks in unfamiliar areas, truck drivers can find local truck friends through truck friend communities, use their social relationships with truck friends to communicate directly with local auto parts stores, and purchase parts. In this way, truck friends can transform virtual relationships from online platforms into real-life "friend" relationships among truck drivers, further converting them into tangible benefits such as discounts on essential parts, service bargaining, and road rescue.

Truck friend organizations also provide more types of mutual services, developing a complete industrial chain on this foundation. Truck friend communities gather the spiritual core of mutual assistance among truck friends, consolidating market economy logic and pragmatism logic on the basis of mutual respect: truck friend organizations have both the service-providing aspect of industry organizations, capable of building an industry community of interests by creating a good community atmosphere, recognized by truck drivers as a "Truck Friends Home"; and the monetization capability of commercial organizations, providing freight industry supporting services such as purchase, maintenance, insurance, and auto parts for daily vehicle maintenance by establishing cooperative relationships with numerous auto parts suppliers. Based on mutual benefit, truck organizations connect the virtual and real through media,打通 the entire industrial chain, achieving win-win cooperation among truck friends, shippers, service providers, and partners.

The medium is the extension of man [10]. As an extension of truck drivers, intelligent media gradually integrates into truck drivers' daily labor in a permeating manner while strengthening their labor capacity. Part of truck drivers' behavioral codes operates under media logic, and it can be said that media is strongly influencing truck drivers' real labor behaviors. Through intelligent media devices, truck drivers are no longer confined to cab space and driving time but skillfully establish and maintain labor relations with others on virtual social platforms, nourishing real labor with media labor relations while balancing real labor and life.

Whether it is the integration of weaving and fusion, or the overall integration and collaborative development of human-media-society against the backdrop of mediatization. The further deep mediatization of truck drivers becomes a "mixed reality" that transcends the real world while blending and coexisting with it, thus becoming an entirely new form of digital civilization [11].

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Author Biographies:

YAN Li (1966—), female, from Zhumadian, Henan, is a professor at the School of Communication, Henan Kaifeng College of Science and Technology and Media, and a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication, Henan University. Her research focuses on internet and new media.

CHANG Shifeng (1996—), male, is a graduate student at the School of Journalism and Communication, Henan University. His research focuses on internet and new media.

(Editor: LI Yansong)