Description
Book SynopsisTrucking used to be one of the best working-class jobs in the United States. Drawing on more than 100 in-depth interviews and years of extensive observation, this book explains how this massive degradation in the quality of work has occurred, and how companies achieve a compliant and dedicated workforce despite it.
Trade Review"
The Big Rig is sure to become the touchstone study of U.S. trucking. Coupling fascinating accounts of personal struggles with sharp structural analyses linking these struggles to macroeconomic forces, it is the best kind of ethnographic sociology." * Men & Masculinities *
"Engagingly written and very thorough...
The Big Rig is a strong contribution to scholarship on work and occupations, economic sociology, and institutional analysis." * American Journal of Sociology *
"Compelling... This rich ethnographic account is grounded in sociological inquiry of labor relations and age-old questions of capitalist interests and class struggle." * Contemporary Sociology *
"This is a powerful and important book that brings clear insights into some of the machinations of contemporary American capitalism." -- Shane Hamilton, University of York * Labor: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas *
Table of ContentsContents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction. Where Did All These Bad Jobs Come From?
1. The CDL Mill: Training the Professional Steering-Wheel Holder
2. Cheap Freight, Cheap Drivers: Work as a Long-Haul Trucker
3. The Big Rig: Running the Contractor Confidence Game
4. Working for the Truck: The Harsh Reality of Contracting
5. Someone to Turn To: Managing Contractors from an Arm’s Length Away
6. “No More Jimmy Hoff as”: Desperate Drivers and Divided Labor
Appendix A. Data and Methods
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
