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Logistics at work: trucks, containers and the friction of circulation in the UK

Gregson, N.

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Abstract

This paper examines logistics at work, focusing on owner-drivers in the UK container haulage industry. It draws on qualitative research conducted in south-east England in 2013 to show that the just-in-time 24/7/365 delivery required by logistics purchasers, and offered by logistics providers, is achieved in the UK logistics space through drivers displacing work, stretching time and running out of time. The location of owner-drivers in the logistics precariat is established, as is the relationship of financial precarity to the circulation of containers in the UK logistics space. Through focusing on logistics as physical real-time circulation, and not just logistics as power and discipline, the paper demonstrates the importance and effects of the friction of circulation in terrestrial (and maritime) space. It further establishes the effects of precariatisation on logistics labour in UK container haulage. These are: a crisis in labour supply, the Eastern Europeanisation of the sector and increasing pressures to illegal working practices.

Citation

Gregson, N. (2015). Logistics at work: trucks, containers and the friction of circulation in the UK. Mobilities, 12(3), 343-364. https://doi.org/10.1080/17450101.2015.1087680

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Aug 18, 2015
Online Publication Date Oct 15, 2015
Publication Date Oct 15, 2015
Deposit Date Nov 6, 2015
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Mobilities
Print ISSN 1745-0101
Electronic ISSN 1745-011X
Publisher Taylor and Francis Group
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 12
Issue 3
Pages 343-364
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/17450101.2015.1087680
Keywords Logistics, Work, Containers, Trucks, Circulation

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