Customer Reviews

Pedal to the Metal: The Work Life of Truckers (Labor And Social Change)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Very informative and discriptive, this book shows daily routines of a trucker. Points of views of different members of the trucking world (drivers, owners, etc.) are described in detail. Driver's priorities and hierarchy are explained and analyzed in a scientific yet easy to read and interesting way.

Here we have a researcher who has enough first hand experience in the industry to be able to accurately assess it.

I found this book compelling reading and the three case studies that the author chose to best reflect the relationships between truckers, their jobs, their trucks, their social life and their self esteem are a revealing expose of an industry often in violation of the myriad of rules which attempt to bind it.

This book could be a compulsory read for any would-be or existing truck company owner or manager as it gives valuable insights into the psyche of both the truck driver and the truck owner.

Drivers and their families could also find this book valuable and informative. It has confirmed some suspicions I had about the job and what actually motivates drivers to work long hours, for little financial reward, forgoing breaks, even when they are permitted them.

The author obviously knows trucking from the driver's seat, which is what makes his analysis of truckers so insightful. The chapter on truckers and sex is unexpected and funny -- you wouldn't expect some nancy professor type to spring something like that on you. The writing is clear and breezy, not all weighted down with a lot of jargon and abstruse theorizing. All in all, the book is the best there is to tell you about the guys behind the wheel of the big rigs we see every time we drive. Buy it, read it. You won't regret it.