The Big Rig: Trucking and the Decline of the American Dream

The Big Rig: Trucking and the Decline of the American Dream

The Matt Townsend Show - Season 6, Episode 280 , Segment 1

Trucking Decline, Religious Anger, Myth of the ADHD Child

Episode: Trucking Decline, Religious Anger, Myth of the ADHD Child

  • Nov 24, 2017 5:00 pm
  • 48:10 mins

Steve Viscelli is an economic sociologist and lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and Fox Family Pavilion Scholar. He is the author of the book The Big Rig: Trucking and the Decline of the American Dream and he works with a range of public and private stakeholders to make the trucking industry safer, more efficient, and a better place to work. In the 1960s truck driving was a great profession, it had benefits and fairly compensated workers for their time. However, since then there has been a dramatic shift, truck drivers are now expected to work long hours for little to no pay. In one case a California truck driver took home a $0.67 paycheck after paying the gas, insurance, and truck lease payments. In 2005, Steve Viscelli spent six months working for a for-hire carrier. For an average of 90 hours a week, his truck’s 53-foot trailer hauled a mishmash of material: pillows, steel coils—anything a pallet could hold. Steve Viscelli shares his experience and explains the importance of and challenge truck drivers face.