Not being a boss but just a card buddy? Feeling the gap? Xiao Tian can chat with you about it.

On July 22nd, at the entrance of a logistics park in Fuzhou, around 3 PM.

A light truck with a “Missing Person” sticker slowly drove into the logistics park. The body and tires of the truck were still speckled with mud from a recent rain. As soon as the door opened, a man in a blue quick-dry T-shirt jumped out. His name was Sun Lin, though many freight drivers knew him better by his online nickname—"Xiao Tian."

"Today I'm pulling the boom of an excavator, from Fuzhou to Zhangzhou, about 300 kilometers." If you didn’t see it with your own eyes, it would be hard to link the person in front of you with the one years ago who sat in an office building, earning a seven-figure annual salary and managing multiple provincial businesses as a regional manager at an internet company.  

▎From 'Managing People' to 'Managing Vehicles'  

Around 2020, Xiao Tian worked as a regional head at an internet company, earning up to 100,000 yuan a month when business was good. But after policy changes and an industry downturn, the company went downhill, and those once 'glorious moments' came to an end.

But the savings he had on hand kept him from panicking. After researching the market, he turned around and opened a gas station with a friend in Weinan, Shaanxi. However, that confidence didn’t survive the industry’s 'winter'—the gas station kept losing money year after year, and they were eventually forced to sell it. 

Xiaotian said, 'It's not that I care about the money, it's just that I suddenly don't know what else I can do.' After feeling lost for a while at home, this time, he chose the path of freight transportation. Many people think that life in freight is simple, just 'driving, listening to music, and hauling goods,' but Xiaotian quickly realized that reality is far more complicated than he imagined.

"You need to learn how to communicate with the cargo owners, learn to deal with all kinds of people; if the goods get damaged or the route is wrong, you pay for it yourself; sometimes you load cargo late into the night, and unload it the next morning, racing against time on the road every day."

For him, the shift from a corporate executive to a truck driver isn't a downgrade—it's a trial. The only constants are his adaptability and respect for work. 'Whatever job you do, love it. Even if at first you think driving freight is just a stopgap, you have to give it your all.'

▎Now he has a 'versatile' partner

Previously, Xiao Tian drove a fully electric light truck. It was fine for city deliveries, but for long distances, range anxiety was constant. 'Sometimes the battery would be almost dead, and I’d finally find a charging station, only to discover it was broken and under maintenance. It was really frustrating.'

It wasn't until he switched to the UFO Super Hybrid Light Truck that his transport schedule really settled down. He patted the car door and said, 'This truck has 101 kWh of electricity and a 50-liter fuel tank. On pure electric, it can go over 200 kilometers. The range extender uses 1 liter of fuel to generate 3 kWh of electricity, and 1 kWh can drive another 3 kilometers. With a full tank and full charge, it can go over 600 kilometers.'

The biggest feature of this car is that it can run on both gas and electricity, so there's no range anxiety: normally you use electricity when you can, and if that's not enough, you can turn on the range extender to generate power. 'It gives me a choice,' Xiao Tian said.

In actual use, pure electric mode only costs 0.3-0.4 yuan per kilometer, and if you use the range extender to generate electricity, the cost is about 0.9 yuan per kilometer. That's all savings straight to the profit. Even better, the car lets you freely choose between three energy modes (pure electric, range extender, smart, etc.), and you can even choose the power of the range extender (5-40kW). Xiao Tian will plan the driving strategy in advance based on the remaining battery, transport distance, and urgency requirements.

Xiao Tian recalls that his longest delivery was from Hangzhou to Linfen, and it was a round trip (1,200 km one way, 2,400 km round trip). He managed to complete the challenge smoothly by starting with a full tank and a fully charged battery and recharging along the way, without losing much time. In Xiao Tian's words, this car is 'versatile,' very flexible in how it can be used.  

▎ Spending 20 days a month in the car — this is his 'second home'

The next day at noon, we followed Xiao Tian from Jieyang, carrying a batch of daily necessities to Huizhou. The whole trip was about 300 km. He didn’t stop to charge again, choosing to mainly use electric power and topping up with the range extender along the way, going all the way without a break.

But before setting off, taking advantage of a break, he got the rice cooker from the passenger seat and made himself some breakfast. The car is equipped with a 220V onboard inverter, allowing him to boil water or cook food anytime, even by the roadside, so he can still manage a decent "work meal."

"Actually, I sleep in the car about twenty days a month, so I cook for myself whenever I can," Xiao Tian said. For him, this UFO All-Sky Super Hybrid Light Truck isn't just a partner on the road but also a living space—the cabin is 1.9 meters wide, so he can stretch his legs fully when lying down, without having to curl up for the night. The car also comes with air-cushion shock-absorbing seats, so his back doesn’t get sore even after long drives.

Spending long hours on the road isn’t a small matter when it comes to comfort—it directly affects your physical condition and work efficiency. 'Once you’ve been driving for a long time, you’ll realize that being able to lie down and having a warm meal is more important than anything else.'  

▎ What kind of sparks can public welfare and freight create?  

After getting tired from driving, Xiao Tian parked his truck at a service area, the sunset stretching long shadows of him and his truck. And during this ride, we also noticed something quite different—there was a bright public welfare missing person sticker on Xiao Tian’s truck.

“All along, whenever there's a chance to do some public welfare activities, I join in. When I ran a gas station, there were organizations that needed some disinfection and cleaning equipment. Even though it was hard to get at the time, I got in touch with friends around me and donated some equipment. We also provided free disinfection and cleaning services for public welfare vehicles that came through, just doing what we could.”

Nowadays, tire tracks are everywhere, and Xiao Tian decided to turn his truck into a mobile public service station. "Our fellow drivers travel to every corner of the world, and every sticker on our trucks could be seen by cargo owners, other drivers, or passersby. There are countless missing person notices on the road, and even if we help just one person see news about their family and find their way home, it's worth it."  

The event he joined, the "Flying Saucer Everywhere, Luck All Around: Phase Two ‘Public Service Journey to Every Corner’," is an attempt to combine public service with freight transport. These truck stickers travel with Xiao Tian across the country, constantly spreading hope.

One of Xiaotian’s words really impressed me: “Charity isn’t about size; it doesn’t have to be grand or spectacular. Integrating kindness into everyday life is the best way.”

▎Conclusion:

Life is like a box of chocolates. Xiaotian has tasted both the richness of the highs and the bitterness of the lows. Yet, when he sits behind the wheel, hands on the steering wheel, road beneath his feet, that long-lost sense of control over life quietly returns with the turning of the wheels. Who’s to say this isn’t the best arrangement? You never know what the next piece will taste like, but with a reliable companion like the UFO soaring through the sky—versatile, switching between fuel and electric at will, dancing through wind and rain—you can approach the next chocolate with confidence.