Profile For Steve V.

For the guy who is thinking about entering the industry. I do actually cover the company driver side of things at big truckload companies in my book.

Brett, again I doubt we disagree on much in terms of the problems for drivers, because I spent countless hours talking to drivers and I really did listen. My conclusions are not the same as other academics (Btw, as far as the millions of academics studying the industry, trucking for its size and importance is definitely one of the most understudied industries - there hasn't been a representative survey of truck drivers since 1997). The root of the problem is that truck drivers don't have control of the labor market the way that they did before deregulation (the point Mike Belzer made in Sweatshops on Wheels). One of my arguments, for instance, is that the lack of control then allowed firms to remake owner-operators and how drivers thought about being one to fit with their new systems for sourcing and moving freight. And how that was done is not something I have seen written about anywhere else.

On self-promotion, guilty as charged for sure. In terms of making a difference, I think educating people about the industry is critical to getting anything important done. As far as whether I can make a difference, we'll see, but for 1400 or so drivers in an arbitration with Central Refrigerated Services over minimum wage my "dabbling at the fringes" as you put it had an impact: http://getmansweeney.com/current-cases/central-refrigerated-forced-labor-minimum-wage. Similar cases, such as the recent ruling against Swift, could change how firms treat drivers a lot.

Best, Steve

Hi Guys, Boy, it's a pretty tough audience on this site, huh?! So, it's true, I'm a sociologist, not a truck driver. And I did only spend about 6 months in the industry as a driver as part of my research for the book. It was intended as preparation for my interviews primarily, so that I could better understand what drivers told me, not so I could learn all there was to learn about being a truck driver - though I did learn a lot from my time as a driver, including what it is like for new drivers coming in and working for a big company. I did spent almost ten years beyond that researching and writing the book and it draws on every kind of data and evidence available on the industry from interviews with drivers, to historical accounts and statistics. Does it contribute something new to current debates or the history of the industry? As I suggest in the preface of my book (I think you can preview that on Amazon), I hope so. For drivers like yourselves with lots of experience, there might even be a thing or two in there about wage benchmarking, the relationship of business consultants to industry media, and carriers etc. that you didn't know. Maybe not. The audience for the book is not veteran drivers, because as I wrote in the preface, I was essentially a research assistant to the experienced drivers I interviewed on many points. As for my motivations, even if the book sells really, really well, I'll never get more than a penny or two per hour for the time I spent on it - I don't even get royalties on the paperback - and on a daily basis I am actually working to make the industry a better place to work. Not because it is going to make me rich, but because it's the right thing to do. And I try to do that by getting drivers' experiences and perspectives out to audiences that don't hear from them directly. And I do a lot of other stuff including consulting for government agencies and serving as an expert in class action lawsuits for drivers that get misled into independent contracting with false claims. Anyway, just wanted to say, we are probably all on the same side on the big issues and hello to all the drivers out there. Steve Viscelli