Podcast appearances and mentions of steve viscelli

Voice Of GO(r)D is happy to bring you the second of a two part series I recorded with the wonderful Oliver Bateman Does the Work of the now defunct What's Left? podcast on the pathologies of the trucking industry, but this time with UPenn sociologist and author of ‘The Big Rig - Trucking and the Decline of the American Dream' Steve Viscelli, whom you heard on this show a few months ago. This conversation was recorded in 2021, and as with part one, Oliver graciously granted me the privilege of re-releasing this discussion here for my readers and listeners.Steve takes us through his life's work of academic study into the trucking industry and the lies it tells itself, Oliver asks the hard questions, and I provide very crusty and colorful commentary. I hope you enjoy this chat and find it informative and valuable. Apologies in advance for the lengthy intro, its been awhile and I had a few things I wanted to say before getting into the meat and potatoes. You can find Oliver's work here - https://oliverbatemandoesthework.substack.com/ And here is Steve Viscelli's website - https://www.steveviscelli.com/Why not purchase a copy of ‘The Big Rig'? ———— As mentioned in the intro, you can write letters to Tony Olienick and Chris Carbert at this address - remember, use plain paper with regular black or blue ink, you may send cards or photos but nothing else, no stickers or anything weird. You MUST include a return address. Chris Carbert or Tony Olienick (why not write them both?) c/o Drumheller Institution Highway #9 PO Box 3000 Drumheller, Alberta T0J 0Y0 Don't ever forget about them or the fact that the Trudeau Regime made these men political prisoners because they stood up for your rights to be free that you no longer possess in any meaningful way. As always, questions, comments, suggestions, corrections and Hate Mail are welcomed and strongly encouraged - gordilocks@protonmail.com Never miss an episode or any of my written work - subscribe to my Substack and have it all delivered directly to your inbox - https://autonomoustruckers.substack.com/

Voice of GO(r)D, in conjunction with The Logistics Lounge, is very happy to bring you, at long last, UPenn Sociologist, researcher, and author of 'The Big Rig - Trucking and The Decline of The American Dream', Steve Viscelli. I've been looking to get Steve on the show since before it started, and am extremely grateful to The Logistics Lounge guys in hosting the video livestream for us back on July 1st, of which this podcast is the audio recording. We had a great discussion about Steve's research, including his time on the road as a trucker, and all of the observations about the industry he brought to his book, and his continuing projects. You can find links to Steve's book and his other research papers here - https://www.steveviscelli.com/ You can find the Logistics Lounge boys here - https://www.logisticsloungeshow.com/ and on Twitter - https://x.com/LogisticsLounge https://x.com/Logistics_Hustl https://x.com/TheFreightHound And co-host, SuperTrucker! https://x.com/supertrucker Stay tuned for when I release my appearance with Steve on the defunct but classic podcast, What's Left? Questions, comments, suggestions, corrections and Hate Mail are welcomed and strongly encouraged - gordilocks@protonmail.com Never miss a show or any of my written content by subscribing to my Substack - https://autonomoustruckers.substack.com/

Whether it's predatory lease-purchase agreements, a pay-by-mile compensation model or any number of other issues, Steve Viscelli has thoughts on how to change things. Also, market conditions are looking up as bid season begins to close. Truckstop says we'll see soon see how seasonal forces impact freight. We'll have more on this, including numbers, in today's Market Update. 0:00 – Newscast  10:00 – Expert: Trucking's inefficiencies put the burden on the drivers 39:55 – Things are looking up in the freight market

In this, the fourth episode of my special National Truck Driver Appreciation Week series, I invited some friends of the show on to discuss the biggest lie in the trucking business, the Driver Shortage Narrative. What better way to appreciate someone than to stop pretending they don't exist? Let's get the government to stop shoveling money at corporations who use this falsehood to suppress our wages. Justin 'Supertrucker' Martin, social media guru over at FreightWaves, joins us to fill us in on his boss, Craig Fuller, the CEO and Big Kahuna, who laid quite a Twitter smackdown on the American Trucking Association; Lee + Lisa Schmitt bring the latest research on the number of drivers, along with interesting truck accident data, from our friends at CDL - Drivers Unlimited, and Mike Lombard joins us later in the show to fill us in on how the shortage narrative does or does not affect the goals of the young people he is assisting move within the industry in Mike's new position as a recruiter. You can read a summary of Craig Fuller's take on the Driver Shortage Myth over at FreightWaves, and I highly recommend that you do. Even TIME Magazine knows the score, and a newly published study by friend of the show and author of Big Rig - Trucking and The Decline of The American Dream author Steve Viscelli also shows what everyone knows the real problem to be - RETENTION.A short snippet -We looked at a wide range of statistical data from state and federal sources. We talked to drivers, shippers, industry associations, and other stakeholders. We heard about problems facing drivers. Some of these concerns, like congestion and poor driving behavior, are perennial. For other problems, like the state's truck speed limit and limited truck parking, the state has options to consider ready at hand. We did not find evidence of a shortage of people interested in becoming truck drivers, but we did find strong evidence of a retention problem. That problem is concentrated in the long-haul segment of the industry—the segment that caused shippers the most pain in 2021. Because of this high turnover, long-haul trucking is the primary gateway to the industry for new truckers. Drivers argued that the job was challenging because of long hours and time away from home, but poor-quality training and bad initial jobs discouraged many would-be drivers. In this area, the state has some unique opportunities to foster partnerships that will better utilize state training monies. These options include funding and fostering an alternative pipeline to trucking careers built on local training and local jobs that lead directly to agricultural trucking jobs. You can find Justin often appearing on his FreightWaves colleague Timothy Dooner's show, What The Truck?, dropping the dankest memes on Twitter, or going hard on TikTok. Lee and Lisa Schmitt are a husband and wife trucking duo from Wisconsin, and are founding members of CDL - Drivers Unlimited, a trucker advocacy organization making gains inside the Machine in D.C.You can find The Schmitts on Facecrack, Twitter, and TikTok. Mike Lombard is testing the limits of human endurance in his capacity as a personal trainer, and has moved on from trucking to recruiting, all while continuing his project of improving the industry over at The Lombard Trucking Show. You can find Mike on Twitter, making inspirational videos on TikTok, and catch his podcast in all the usual places, especially on Spotify; his latest episode with colleague and friend of the show James Year is a real banger, and you should listen.

The Lexman Artificial Podcast welcomes Steve Viscelli, chef and restaurateur of the acclaimed Italian spot, Ovenwood. In this episode, the two discuss the art of cloistressing - the process of dressing a piece of meat by trapping its juices in a casing. Steve offers his expert insights into the practice, and Lexman fires away with questions about oven wood - the varied types used to cook pizzas, meats, and more. Whether you're a fan of Italian cuisine or simply fascinated by how restaurants operate, you won't want to miss this episode of The Lexman Artificial Podcast!

In this episode Lexman interviews Steve Viscelli of The Intentancy. Viscelli dives into the unchanging intentancy of the world, whether it be physical objects or abstract concepts like knowledge. He discusses how these things can change over time, but ultimately remain the same.

Steve Viscelli, a renowned biologist and author, joins Lexman to discuss the scourge of gynandromorphism, Cravers, the animus Spot-Welds, and consent. The discussion ranges from the bizarre to the terrifying, and leaves listeners with a heightened awareness of the dangers present in our world.

Steve Viscelli joins Lexman for a discussion on Montessori education. They explore the philosophy behind the method, its benefits for learning, and some of the unique ways it can be incorporated into a child's routine.

Steve Viscelli, a satanist who also works with ruminants, tells the story of a hammerhead shark attacking a cyclostome wearing a zestfulness patch.

Steve Viscelli, author of The 4400 and Night Call, joins Lexman to discuss how ambition fuels a successful career. They also discuss the role of ambition in creative work and the importance of setting goals.

On this week's show, economist Richard Wolff talks with The Heartland Labor Forum about who's really to blame for inflation (hint, it's not the usual suspects)…What happens when teachers are out sick or on quarantine and there's a dire shortage of subs? We find out from the CTU Speaks podcast…On the Belabored podcast, Steve Viscelli discusses his new book The Big Rig: Trucking and the Decline of the American Dream…RadioLabour reports on women's use of WhatsApp to fight abuse…From the Union Dues podcast, author of “The Great Post Office Scandal” Nick Wallis explains the Horizon IT scandal and its' ramifications for the future. Highlights from labor radio and podcast shows around the country, part of the national Labor Radio Podcast Network of shows focusing on working people's issues and concerns. #LaborRadioPod @AFLCIO @Heartland_Labor @CtuSpeaks @DissentMag @radiolabour @DuesUnion Edited by Patrick Dixon, Mel Smith and Chris Garlock; produced by Chris Garlock; social media guru Mr. Harold Phillips.

Steve Viscelli is a political sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania where he studies freight transportation and autonomous trucks. He's also the author of the book "The Big Rig: Trucking and the Decline of the American Dream" in which he explains how long-haul trucking went from being one of the best blue-collar jobs in the US to one of the toughest. His current book project "Driverless? Autonomous Trucks and the Future of the American Trucker" explores self-driving trucks and their potential impacts on labor and the environment. Steve has appeared on CBS News 60 Minutes and most recently on an episode of the Lex Fridman podcast. In this episode of The Logistics Tribe, Steve talks to our host Jonah McIntire about the following topics: - Steve's views on the common narrative that the truck transportation industry in the US is about 80.000 drivers short and that the shortage is only getting worse because many drivers are nearing retirement age - The problem of getting people into the profession vs. keeping people inside the profession - What the reasons are that a lot of drivers are leaving the trucking profession and what they are leaving the profession for - What Steve thinks about various initiatives from the current US administration, for example the "under 21 program" - What the wage and working conditions are really like in different segments of the truck driving business - How real is the infamous 80.000 driver shortage number? - How driver training programs work and how they need to be improved - Potential solutions to the various structural problems in the industry - What role existing and new technology can play - Why drivers are still paid by the mile and what problems arise from that approach - Why the driver shortage is a very "convenient narrative" - What influence can transportation procurement professionals play in improving driver conditions - and more Helpful Links: Steve Viscelli's website: https://www.steveviscelli.com/ Steve Viscelli's podcast episode with Lex Fridman: https://youtu.be/a3Wpy6gE4So Jonah McIntire (Hoste) on LinkedIn: https://nl.linkedin.com/in/jonahmcintire Boris Felgendreher (Founder of The Logistics Tribe) on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/borisfelgendreher/ Our great supporters GreyOrange: https://www.greyorange.com/ BVL Webinar “How flexible automation helped Jysk cope with the unexpected peaks during the pandemic and support their ecommerce growth” on Feb 24, 2022: https://bvl-digital.de/webinare/sendeplan/how-flexible-automation-helped-jysk-cope-with-the-unexpected-peaks-during-the-pandemic-and-support-their-ecommerce-growth/

Long-haul trucking went from being one of the best blue-collar jobs to one of the toughest in America. What does this transformation mean for the ongoing supply chain crisis? The post Belabored: Trucker Supply Crisis? With Steve Viscelli appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

Oliver talks with scholar Steve Viscelli and veteran trucker Gord Magill about the labor issues impacting truckers, the political narratives surrounding the industry, the daily work of driving a big rig, and more. If you liked this episode, please consider subscribing to What's Left? to support the production of similar content in the future and gain access to 150 exclusive episodes. For further information, check out the American Trucking Association (https://www.trucking.org/), the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (https://www.ooida.com/), California AB 5 (https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB5), Protecting the Right to Organize Act (https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/842), and Steve Viscelli's book The Big Rig (https://www.steveviscelli.com/book)

Steve Viscelli is a former truck driver and now an economic sociologist at University of Pennsylvania studying freight transportation, including autonomous trucks. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – Shopify: https://shopify.com/lex to get 14-day free trial – ROKA: https://roka.com/ and use code LEX to get 20% off your first order – Sunbasket: https://sunbasket.com/lex and use code LEX to get $35 off – Blinkist: https://blinkist.com/lex and use code LEX to get 25% off premium – BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/lex to get 10% off EPISODE LINKS: Steve's Website: https://www.steveviscelli.com/ Big Rig (book): https://amzn.to/3EbaofP Will Robotic Trucks Be “Sweatshops on Wheels?” (article):

Steve Viscelli popped up on the trucking sector's radar several years ago when he wrote "The Big Rig." He had been a truck driver turned academic and he wrote a first-hand look at the life of drivers on the road.  In particular, he took aim at lease purchase deals, arguing that they were distinctly bad deals for drivers.  Viscelli joins host John Kingston on Drilling Deep today to talk about how drivers are doing in this strong market and whether his views on lease purchase deals have changed at all.Also on Drilling Deep, Kingston talks about the renewed surge in diesel prices.Apple PodcastSpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

Steve Viscelli popped up on the trucking sector's radar several years ago when he wrote "The Big Rig." He had been a truck driver turned academic and he wrote a first-hand look at the life of drivers on the road.  In particular, he took aim at lease purchase deals, arguing that they were distinctly bad deals for drivers.  Viscelli joins host John Kingston on Drilling Deep today to talk about how drivers are doing in this strong market and whether his views on lease purchase deals have changed at all.Also on Drilling Deep, Kingston talks about the renewed surge in diesel prices.Apple PodcastSpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

Robotic trucks are beginning to roll out, carrying cargo and promises of revolutionizing freight hauling, reducing traffic, and lowering pollution. But previous waves of automation have eliminated millions of jobs in the United States. And a transformation in truck driving could come with big costs for the 3.5 million truckers who toil in one of America’s most enduring occupations and play an outsized role in our nation’s economy and road-heavy culture. Will driverless trucks become cramped and lonely “sweatshops on wheels” maintained by poorly paid attendants? What would it take to make this highly visible shift to automation serve society by creating good new jobs, making roads safer, and even helping the planet? University of Pennsylvania sociologist and former truck driver Steve Viscelli, author of The Big Rig: Trucking and the Decline of the American Dream, and Issues in Science and Technology senior editor Lisa Margonelli rolled into Zócalo to consider how automated trucking might transform American life. This Zócalo/Issues in Science and Technology discussion streamed live on Twitter on Tuesday, January 19, 2021. Visit https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/ to read our articles and learn about upcoming events. Twitter: https://twitter.com/thepublicsquare Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepublicsquare/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zocalopublicsquare LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/z-calo-public-square

On today's Midday Market Update, Michael Vincent and Kevin Hill talk about the SONAR-powered data, issues and news that move you.On this episode they’re joined by Judah Levine, Research Lead at Freightos Group; Steve Viscelli, Fellow and Lecturer at University of Pennsylvania; and FreightWaves Market Experts Andrew Cox, Anthony Smith, and Zach Strickland. This is a live interactive event, viewers are encouraged to comment and call-in during broadcasts Tuesdays and Thursdays at 12PM ET on FreightWaves Linkedin and Facebook, channels.WatchApple PodcastSpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

It’s not an easy task exploring the reasons for the decline of truckings’ "American Dream" for OTR drivers, company drivers and owner operators. We can make a list of everything wrong with trucking and how it affects truckers, but to pinpoint the problems in order to resolve them is much more difficult. It is a highly intricate and complicated web of obstacles, involving rules and regulations interwoven with industry practices, systems and schemes. Although most of us weren’t a part of trucking prior to deregulation, most will agree that trucking and truck drivers played a major part of the American Dream during that time. Deregulation is not the sole reason for the decline of the American Dream, it has however, caused trucking to evolve into an industry of "them against us" but in order to fix something, we need to understand it. We have the honor to have with us Steve Viscelli, sociologist and long time researcher of  truck drivers and the trucking industry. His pursuit to find out why truckers work so hard and how long-haul trucking went from being one of the best, to one of the toughest blue-collar jobs in the U.S. led him to obtain his CDL and continue his research from behind the wheel. His research, along with his time Over the Road, resulted in his book, “The Big Rig - Trucking and the Decline of the American Dream” Also with us will be our long time friend and fellow advocate Desiree Wood of Real Women In Trucking who will be sharing her present real-time experiences for those who may not be aware of what is currently happening within her organization. Call in 347-826-9170

One of the most common questions about AI today is whether or not it will take over people's jobs. This episode is about someone grappling with that quandary: He's a truck driver anxious about whether self-driving trucks will displace jobs in the very near future. For someone who loves what he does, what does it mean for his industry to be on an inexorable march toward technological development if that progress could push his colleagues out of the driver's seat?   Show Notes Finn Murphy goes for a drive, and shares his thoughts on technology's impact on trucking (1:08) Finn's truck is equipped with technology that monitors him on the job (2:42) Steve Viscelli, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania who conducts research on the truck driving industry (8:55) Finn has to look forward when driving on the road—and when thinking about the future of his industry (13:10) Steve Viscelli's report, “Driverless? Autonomous Trucks and the Future of the American Trucker” (21:58) Read more of Finn Murphy's stories in his book, The Long Haul: A Trucker's Tales of Life on the Road (25:35) We want to hear from you Please send us your comments, suggested topics, and listener questions for future All Turtles Podcast episodes. Voicemail: +1 (310) 571-8448 Email: hello@all-turtles.com Twitter: @allturtlesco with hashtag #askAT For more from All Turtles, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to our newsletter on our website.

Self-driving trucks promise to revitalize the trucking industry. But increased energy demand and air pollution are possible downsides. --- Self-driving technology is making its way onto America's roads. Companies including Lyft, Ford and Google's Waymo are investing heavily to develop driverless vehicles and transportation services. Driverless technology is also being developed for the trucking industry, a cornerstone of the economy that moves 70% of manufactured goods yet finds itself challenged by high fuel costs, safety concerns, and a shortage of drivers. Guest Steve Viscelli, Senior Fellow with the Kleinman Center, looks at the potential for driverless trucks to stake their claim on the nation's highways and create a more efficient transportation system. He also talks about potential impacts that vast fleets of driverless trucks may have on energy demand, air quality, and traffic congestion, and the choices policy makers face in balancing these outcomes. Steve Viscelli is a Senior Fellow with the Kleinman Center and a lecturer in the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Sociology, where he researches policy in the areas of energy efficiency and employment relations. Steve also worked as a truck driver while researching his 2016 book, The Big Rig: Trucking and the Decline of the American Dream. Related Content Stalled: Make Big Trucks More Fuel Efficient https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/stalled-make-big-trucks-more-fuel-efficient

There may not be a more ubiquitous presence on American highways than the truck. The images are iconic: eighteen-wheelers with muddy steel and chrome, and a driver in aviator sunglasses and a mesh hat. But as Steve Viscelli, political sociologist and lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, shows in his new book, The Big Rig: Trucking and the Decline of the American Dream (University of California Press, 2016), the romantic idea of the hardworking, solitary truck driver making a decent, honest living for his family must be laid to rest. Once among the best blue-collar jobs in the country with one of the strongest labor unions, the deregulation and subsequent greedy practices of the trucking industry turned it into a “bad” one, with very low pay, very long and unpredictable hours, and awful work conditions. Aware of these realities, the trucking industry does a masterful job of creating and maintaining the illusion that being a truck driver is still a path toward upward mobility, an honest and true working-class version of the American Dream. They structure work so that workers play a “miles game” of always trying to maximize time for a little extra pay, and push the allure of becoming an independent contractor, which only indebts them to their company. Becoming a trucker himself, Viscelli vividly shows his own frustrations in training and out on the road, caught up in the game and hearing stories of workers who haven’t seen their families in weeks and are still struggling to make ends meet. Through an illuminating case, Viscelli addresses the timeless questions: “Why do people work bad jobs?” and “Why do they stay in them for as long as they do?” His answers get at the heart not just of a single occupation and industry, but also of work in today’s economy. Richard E. Ocejo is associate professor of sociology at John Jay College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). He is the author of Masters of Craft: Old Jobs in the New Urban Economy (Princeton University Press, 2017), about the transformation of low-status occupations into cool, cultural taste-making jobs (cocktail bartenders, craft distillers, upscale mens barbers, and whole animal butchers), and of Upscaling Downtown: From Bowery Saloons to Cocktail Bars in New York City (Princeton University Press, 2014), about growth policies, nightlife, and conflict in gentrified neighborhoods. His work has appeared in such journals as City & Community, Poetics, Ethnography, and the European Journal of Cultural Studies. He is also the editor of Ethnography and the City: Readings on Doing Urban Fieldwork (Routledge, 2012) and serves on the editorial boards of the journals Metropolitics, Work and Occupations, and the Journal for Undergraduate Ethnography. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There may not be a more ubiquitous presence on American highways than the truck. The images are iconic: eighteen-wheelers with muddy steel and chrome, and a driver in aviator sunglasses and a mesh hat. But as Steve Viscelli, political sociologist and lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, shows in his new book, The Big Rig: Trucking and the Decline of the American Dream (University of California Press, 2016), the romantic idea of the hardworking, solitary truck driver making a decent, honest living for his family must be laid to rest. Once among the best blue-collar jobs in the country with one of the strongest labor unions, the deregulation and subsequent greedy practices of the trucking industry turned it into a “bad” one, with very low pay, very long and unpredictable hours, and awful work conditions. Aware of these realities, the trucking industry does a masterful job of creating and maintaining the illusion that being a truck driver is still a path toward upward mobility, an honest and true working-class version of the American Dream. They structure work so that workers play a “miles game” of always trying to maximize time for a little extra pay, and push the allure of becoming an independent contractor, which only indebts them to their company. Becoming a trucker himself, Viscelli vividly shows his own frustrations in training and out on the road, caught up in the game and hearing stories of workers who haven’t seen their families in weeks and are still struggling to make ends meet. Through an illuminating case, Viscelli addresses the timeless questions: “Why do people work bad jobs?” and “Why do they stay in them for as long as they do?” His answers get at the heart not just of a single occupation and industry, but also of work in today’s economy. Richard E. Ocejo is associate professor of sociology at John Jay College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). He is the author of Masters of Craft: Old Jobs in the New Urban Economy (Princeton University Press, 2017), about the transformation of low-status occupations into cool, cultural taste-making jobs (cocktail bartenders, craft distillers, upscale mens barbers, and whole animal butchers), and of Upscaling Downtown: From Bowery Saloons to Cocktail Bars in New York City (Princeton University Press, 2014), about growth policies, nightlife, and conflict in gentrified neighborhoods. His work has appeared in such journals as City & Community, Poetics, Ethnography, and the European Journal of Cultural Studies. He is also the editor of Ethnography and the City: Readings on Doing Urban Fieldwork (Routledge, 2012) and serves on the editorial boards of the journals Metropolitics, Work and Occupations, and the Journal for Undergraduate Ethnography. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There may not be a more ubiquitous presence on American highways than the truck. The images are iconic: eighteen-wheelers with muddy steel and chrome, and a driver in aviator sunglasses and a mesh hat. But as Steve Viscelli, political sociologist and lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, shows in his new book, The Big Rig: Trucking and the Decline of the American Dream (University of California Press, 2016), the romantic idea of the hardworking, solitary truck driver making a decent, honest living for his family must be laid to rest. Once among the best blue-collar jobs in the country with one of the strongest labor unions, the deregulation and subsequent greedy practices of the trucking industry turned it into a “bad” one, with very low pay, very long and unpredictable hours, and awful work conditions. Aware of these realities, the trucking industry does a masterful job of creating and maintaining the illusion that being a truck driver is still a path toward upward mobility, an honest and true working-class version of the American Dream. They structure work so that workers play a “miles game” of always trying to maximize time for a little extra pay, and push the allure of becoming an independent contractor, which only indebts them to their company. Becoming a trucker himself, Viscelli vividly shows his own frustrations in training and out on the road, caught up in the game and hearing stories of workers who haven’t seen their families in weeks and are still struggling to make ends meet. Through an illuminating case, Viscelli addresses the timeless questions: “Why do people work bad jobs?” and “Why do they stay in them for as long as they do?” His answers get at the heart not just of a single occupation and industry, but also of work in today’s economy. Richard E. Ocejo is associate professor of sociology at John Jay College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). He is the author of Masters of Craft: Old Jobs in the New Urban Economy (Princeton University Press, 2017), about the transformation of low-status occupations into cool, cultural taste-making jobs (cocktail bartenders, craft distillers, upscale mens barbers, and whole animal butchers), and of Upscaling Downtown: From Bowery Saloons to Cocktail Bars in New York City (Princeton University Press, 2014), about growth policies, nightlife, and conflict in gentrified neighborhoods. His work has appeared in such journals as City & Community, Poetics, Ethnography, and the European Journal of Cultural Studies. He is also the editor of Ethnography and the City: Readings on Doing Urban Fieldwork (Routledge, 2012) and serves on the editorial boards of the journals Metropolitics, Work and Occupations, and the Journal for Undergraduate Ethnography. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There may not be a more ubiquitous presence on American highways than the truck. The images are iconic: eighteen-wheelers with muddy steel and chrome, and a driver in aviator sunglasses and a mesh hat. But as Steve Viscelli, political sociologist and lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, shows in his new book, The Big Rig: Trucking and the Decline of the American Dream (University of California Press, 2016), the romantic idea of the hardworking, solitary truck driver making a decent, honest living for his family must be laid to rest. Once among the best blue-collar jobs in the country with one of the strongest labor unions, the deregulation and subsequent greedy practices of the trucking industry turned it into a “bad” one, with very low pay, very long and unpredictable hours, and awful work conditions. Aware of these realities, the trucking industry does a masterful job of creating and maintaining the illusion that being a truck driver is still a path toward upward mobility, an honest and true working-class version of the American Dream. They structure work so that workers play a “miles game” of always trying to maximize time for a little extra pay, and push the allure of becoming an independent contractor, which only indebts them to their company. Becoming a trucker himself, Viscelli vividly shows his own frustrations in training and out on the road, caught up in the game and hearing stories of workers who haven’t seen their families in weeks and are still struggling to make ends meet. Through an illuminating case, Viscelli addresses the timeless questions: “Why do people work bad jobs?” and “Why do they stay in them for as long as they do?” His answers get at the heart not just of a single occupation and industry, but also of work in today’s economy. Richard E. Ocejo is associate professor of sociology at John Jay College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). He is the author of Masters of Craft: Old Jobs in the New Urban Economy (Princeton University Press, 2017), about the transformation of low-status occupations into cool, cultural taste-making jobs (cocktail bartenders, craft distillers, upscale mens barbers, and whole animal butchers), and of Upscaling Downtown: From Bowery Saloons to Cocktail Bars in New York City (Princeton University Press, 2014), about growth policies, nightlife, and conflict in gentrified neighborhoods. His work has appeared in such journals as City & Community, Poetics, Ethnography, and the European Journal of Cultural Studies. He is also the editor of Ethnography and the City: Readings on Doing Urban Fieldwork (Routledge, 2012) and serves on the editorial boards of the journals Metropolitics, Work and Occupations, and the Journal for Undergraduate Ethnography. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices