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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.

Trucking --- Independent truck drivers --- Owner-operator truck drivers --- Self-employed truck drivers --- Wildcat truckers --- Self-employed --- Truck drivers --- E-books --- Independent truck drivers - United States. --- cdl truckers. --- cdl. --- contemporary labor markets and long haul trucking. --- deregulation of trucking industry. --- driving a big rig. --- exploitive labor of the working class. --- freight drivers. --- history of trucking industry. --- labor. --- long haul trucking. --- organized trucking. --- over the road trucking. --- owner operator trucking. --- semi drivers. --- trucking industry. --- trucking labor markets. --- trucking. --- union truck drivers. --- working class discourse. --- working class history.