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

Synopsis

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. --amazon.com. Introduction. Where Did All These Bad Jobs Come From? -- The Cdl Mill: Training The Professional Steering Wheel Holder -- Cheap Freight, Cheap Drivers: Work As A Long-haul Trucker -- The Big Rig: Running The Contractor Confidence Game -- Working For The Truck: The Harsh Reality Of Contracting -- Someone To Turn To: Managing Contractors From An Arm's Length Away -- No More Jimmy Hoffas: Desperate Drivers And Divided Labor. Steve Viscelli. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 247-255) And Index.