Trucking deregulation and labour earnings in the USA: A re-examination

Unionized truck drivers claim that deregulation has adversely affected their hourly wages. Past research supporting this contention has not focused on deregulation's influence on the number of hours worked or on total weekly earnings. This study expands earlier research by estimating weekly earnings effects from deregulation using a variety of specifications. Declines in real hourly wage consistently emerge for unionized truck drivers. Deregulation does not influence hourly wages for non-union drivers, but does seem to reduce these workers' hours and so contributes to lower weekly earnings. This suggests a broader earnings effect from deregulation, one that influences both union and non-union drivers.