Mobilities, mobile work and habitation: truck drivers and the crisis in occupational auto-mobility in the UK

Gregson, Nicky

Abstract

This paper examines the relation between mobilities and mobile work through a focus on occupational auto-mobility and habitation. Drawing on qualitative research conducted on truck drivers/driving in South-east England, it shows habitation emerges when driving stops; that it is cab-based dwelling-in-transit and nomadic dwelling rooted in and bounded by the material culture of the cab; and that it is displaced to the margins and interstices of the road and logistical network. The paper highlights the discomfort of cab-based habitation and its limits, in sanitation, and examines how recent developments at distribution centres intensify discomfort by denying cab-based habitation. These developments recast the relation of occupational auto-mobility and habitation through transient dwelling and are key to understanding the current crisis in labour supply in truck driving.

Citation

Gregson, N. (2018). Mobilities, mobile work and habitation: truck drivers and the crisis in occupational auto-mobility in the UK. Mobilities, 13(3), 291-307. https://doi.org/10.1080/17450101.2017.1343987

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 4, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Jul 27, 2017
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2018
• Deposit Date: Jul 4, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 27, 2019
• Journal: Mobilities
• Print ISSN: 1745-0101
• Electronic ISSN: 1745-011X
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 291-307
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17450101.2017.1343987
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1356219