Uncommon Carriers is an uncommon book, but then that is what one should expect from John McPhee. This is the third of his books that I have read, and all have been rather quirky. In Uncommon Carriers, McPhee investigates the behind-the-scenes world of transportation. He does this, not by doing research, but by actually participating in the transportation activities. The up side to this is that the reader gets an inside view of the often hidden world and an appreciation of the complexity that surrounds ways of life that may seem rather blasé to those not in the industry. The down side is that McPhee sometimes gets so deep into the vocabulary of the industry that he loses the reader. Because of this, some of the segments are more accessible than others. But all are fascinating and eye-opening.