The Big Rig: Trucking and the Decline of the American Dream
- ISBN-10
- 0520278127
- ISBN-13
- 9780520278127
- Category
- Political Science
- Pages
- 284
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2016-04-12
- Publisher
- Univ of California Press
- Author
- Steve Viscelli
Description
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.
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Other editions
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- 2016-04-12
- 288 pages
- Ebook
- Univ of California Press
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- 2016-04-12
- 288 pages
- Paperback
- Univ of California Press
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