The Big Rig: Trucking and the Decline of the American DreamLong-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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Bibliographic information
| Title | The Big Rig: Trucking and the Decline of the American Dream |
| Author | Steve Viscelli |
| Edition | illustrated |
| Publisher | Univ of California Press, 2016 |
| ISBN | 0520278127, 9780520278127 |
| Length | 268 pages |
| Subjects | › › POLITICAL SCIENCE / Labor & Industrial Relations SOCIAL SCIENCE / Gender Studies Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural & Social |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |