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Title details for The Big Rig by Steve Viscelli - Available

The Big Rig

by Steve Viscelli
ebook
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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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Publisher: University of California Press

Kindle Book

  • Release date: April 12, 2016

OverDrive Read

  • ISBN: 9780520962712
  • File size: 2061 KB
  • Release date: April 12, 2016

EPUB ebook

  • ISBN: 9780520962712
  • File size: 2061 KB
  • Release date: April 12, 2016

Formats

Kindle Book
OverDrive Read
EPUB ebook

subjects

Politics Sociology Nonfiction

Languages

English

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.
Expand title description text
Politics Sociology Nonfiction