How truck drivers and transport companies co-shape career sustainability: a comparative case study in the Netherlands

This study examines how truck drivers interpret and exercise agency regarding career sustainability, within an occupation marked by spatial constraints, limited upward mobility, and strong job autonomy. Using a comparative case study design, we analyzed seven cases in various transport companies, grounded in 31 interviews with truck drivers, their direct supervisors, HR managers, and directors. Our aim was to understand how agency plays out across organizational and occupational social spaces, and how this agency shapes truck drivers’ career trajectories . Findings reveal an agency paradox: while drivers report a strong sense of agency—expressed through ownership and individuality in their job, this perceived agency is identity-driven and constrained by existing structural organizational boundaries. Supervisors and other managerial actors often expect drivers to demonstrate long-term, life course agency, yet rarely offer needed support or resources. As a result, career development of truck drivers remains limited, reinforcing a culture of “good enough” satisfaction and static occupational roles. Findings highlight the critical role of social context in shaping how agency is interpreted and enacted in transport companies. These insights call for interventions that foster actual rather than perceived agency, including clearer supervisory roles, attention to health-related job demands, and efforts to challenge occupational stigma, and that aim for fostering truck drivers’ career sustainability.