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Long-haul trucks have been described as sweatshops on wheels. The typical long-haul trucker works the equivalent of two full-time jobs, often for little more than minimum wage. But it wasn’t always this way. Trucking used to be one of the best working-class jobs in the United States.
The Big Rig explains how this massive degradation in the quality of work has occurred, and how companies achieve a compliant and dedicated workforce despite it. Drawing on more than 100 in-depth interviews and years of extensive observation, including six months training and working as a long-haul trucker, Viscelli explains in detail how labor is recruited, trained, and used in the industry. He then shows how inexperienced workers are convinced to lease a truck and to work as independent contractors. He explains how deregulation and collective action by employers transformed trucking’s labor markets--once dominated by the largest and most powerful union in US history--into an important example of the costs of contemporary labor markets for workers and the general public.
The Big Rig explains how this massive degradation in the quality of work has occurred, and how companies achieve a compliant and dedicated workforce despite it. Drawing on more than 100 in-depth interviews and years of extensive observation, including six months training and working as a long-haul trucker, Viscelli explains in detail how labor is recruited, trained, and used in the industry. He then shows how inexperienced workers are convinced to lease a truck and to work as independent contractors. He explains how deregulation and collective action by employers transformed trucking’s labor markets--once dominated by the largest and most powerful union in US history--into an important example of the costs of contemporary labor markets for workers and the general public.
Price: $95.00
Pages: 288
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Publication Date:
12 April 2016
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9780520278110
Format: Hardcover
"The Big Rig is sure to become the touchstone study of U.S. trucking. Coupling fascinating accounts of personal struggles with sharp structural analyses linking these struggles to macroeconomic forces, it is the best kind of ethnographic sociology."
Steve Viscelli is a political sociologist and lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a senior associate at the Center on Wisconsin Strategy. In addition to his academic research, he works with a range of public and private stakeholders to make the trucking industry safer, more efficient, and a better place to work. To learn more, please visit: http://www.steveviscelli.com/.
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction. Where Did All These Bad Jobs Come From?
1. The CDL Mill: Training the Professional Steering-Wheel Holder
2. Cheap Freight, Cheap Drivers: Work as a Long-Haul Trucker
3. The Big Rig: Running the Contractor Confidence Game
4. Working for the Truck: The Harsh Reality of Contracting
5. Someone to Turn To: Managing Contractors from an Arm’s Length Away
6. “No More Jimmy Hoff as”: Desperate Drivers and Divided Labor
Appendix A. Data and Methods
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction. Where Did All These Bad Jobs Come From?
1. The CDL Mill: Training the Professional Steering-Wheel Holder
2. Cheap Freight, Cheap Drivers: Work as a Long-Haul Trucker
3. The Big Rig: Running the Contractor Confidence Game
4. Working for the Truck: The Harsh Reality of Contracting
5. Someone to Turn To: Managing Contractors from an Arm’s Length Away
6. “No More Jimmy Hoff as”: Desperate Drivers and Divided Labor
Appendix A. Data and Methods
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index