Trucking Country: The Road to America's Wal-Mart Economy (Politics and Society in Twentieth-Century America)

323 Pages·2008·3.03 MB·English

by  Shane Hamilton

TRUCKING COUNTRY
POLITICS AND SOCIETY IN
TWENTIETH-CENTURY AMERICA
Series Editors
William Chafe, Gary Gerstle, Linda Gordon, and Julian Zelizer
A list of titles in this series appears at the back of the book
TRUCKING
COUNTRY
the road to america s
’
wal-mart economy
Shane Hamilton
Princeton University Press
Princeton and Oxford
Copyright © 2008by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press,
6Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX201TW
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hamilton, Shane, 1976–
Trucking country : the road to America's Wal-Mart economy / Shane Hamilton.
p. cm. — (Politics and society in twentieth-century America)
Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral)—Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN978-0-691-13582-3
1. Truck drivers—United States—History. 2. United States—Rural conditions.
3. United States—Economic conditions—20th century. I. Title.
HD8039.M7952U529 2008
303.48'32—dc22 2008009874
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available
This book has been composed in Adobe Garamond
Printed on acid-free paper.
press.princeton.edu
Printed in the United States of America
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
For Chloe
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CONTENTS
List of Illustrations and Tables ix
Acknowledgments xi
introduction 1
chapter one
Food and Power in the New Deal, 1933–42 13
chapter two
Chaos, Control, and Country Trucking, 1933–42 43
chapter three
Food Fights in War and Peace, 1942–52 69
chapter four
Trucking Culture and Politics in the Agribusiness Era, 1953–61 99
chapter five
Beef Trusts and Asphalt Cowboys 135
chapter six
The Milkman and the Milk Hauler 163
chapter seven
Agrarian Trucking Culture and Deregulatory Capitalism, 1960–80 187
conclusion 233
Appendix A 239
Appendix B 243
Notes 251
Index 293
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ILLUSTRATIONS AND TABLES
Figures
1.1 Wisconsin and Illinois Milksheds, 1932 27
2.1 Owner-Operator Truckers Relative to Total Labor Force,
1930–80 49
2.2 Milk Hauler Unloading Cans at Receiving Station 60
4.1 Transportation Portion of the Food Dollar, 1945–55 116
5.1 Meatpacker Locations and Beef Cattle on Farms in 1959 138
5.2 The Feedlot Belt and Feed Grain Production in 1965 141
5.3 Rural Meatpacking in the 1970s 154
6.1 Borden Milk Company Deliverymen 168
6.2 Bulk Milk Truck 172
7.1 The Bandit 222
Tables
2.1 Farm Backgrounds of Truck Drivers, 1940 48
3.1 Income Comparisons of Agricultural and Industrial Truck
Drivers by Employment Status, 1950 93
7.1 Women in the Labor Force and in Trucking, 1960–80 196
7.2 Truck Driver Income by Race, 1960–80 203
7.3 Truck Ownership by Race, 1960–80 205
7.4 Number, Revenues, Employees, and Compensation of
Regulated and Nonregulated Motor Carriers, 1963,1967,
1972, and 1977 211
B.1 Truck Drivers in the Labor Force, 1930–80 243
B.2 Income, Ownership, and Metropolitan Status of Truckers
by Race, 1930–80 245
B.3 Income and Metropolitan Status of Self-Employed
Truckers and Truckers Working for Wages, 1930–80 246
B.4 Employees of Unregulated Long-Haul Trucking Firms
Relative to Total Labor Force, by State Rank, 1972 247
B.5 Estimated Tonnage Carried by Regulated and
Nonregulated Intercity Motor Carriers, 1950–79 248
B.6 Revenues, Employees, Wages, and Ton-Mileage of
Railroads and Motor Carriers, 1940–79 249
ix