The Big Rig: Trucking and the Decline of the American Dream (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780520278127)

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.

Author: Steve Viscelli
ISBN-10: 0520278127
ISBN-13: 9780520278127
Publisher: University of California Press
Language: English
Published: 04/12/2016
Pages: 284
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.84lbs
Size: 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.70d