The Big Rig: Trucking and the Decline of the American Dream.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Viscelli, Steve, 1974-

Contributor:

GIC Course Text Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Area Studies: American Studies.

Local Subjects:

Area Studies: American Studies.

Summary:

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. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 The CDL Mill: Training" the Professional Steering-Wheel Holder 28

2 Cheap Freight, Cheap Drivers: Work as a Long-Haul Trucker 58

3 The Big Rig: Running the Contractor Confidence Game 105

4 Working for the Truck: The Harsh Reality of Contracting 140

5 Someone to Turn To: Managing Contractors from an Arm's Length Away 168

6 "No More Jimmy Hoffas": Desperate Drivers and Divided Labor 190.

ISBN:

9780520278127