Page - 69 - in Mobile Culture Studies - The Journal, Volume 3/2017

Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 3 2o17 Agata Stanisz | Tractor unit acoustemology 69 park at almost identical parking lots next to other tractor units whose drivers cannot be easily identified at first sight. This is the reason why listening to loud music is crucial: it allows drivers of a given nationality to identify one another. Listening to local radio stations also constitutes a response to the identity of the  infrastructure for mobility and the policy of freedom of move - ment within the Schengen Area: the changes of the language in which the news is broadcast or songs that are sung tend to be the  only sign that a driver has arrived in another country. The radio creates the atmosphere of being in Germany, the Czech Republic, France, Denmark or the Netherlands (see Bull 2003, 185-202; 2004, 243-259; Stockfelt 1994, 19-38). Listening to music in cabs is also related to creating an acoustic cocoon in order to achieve serenity (Bijsterveld 2010, 189-211). Music drowns out the noise of the tractor unit and  it blocks other sounds out. At parking lots, this is additionally accompanied by visual isolation after closing the curtains tightly, which intensifies the sense of intimacy and privacy. More of- ten than not, it is related to the rationing the access to the cab and a sense of control over the acoustic environment. According to Irwin Altman, a psychologist, it is not about the isolation level of, for example, sound and vision, but about the level of control as to who shall have access to the cab (Altman 1976, 7-29). Michael Bull (2003, 185-202) points out that listening to  the  radio or music in a car provides drivers with a sense of being in charge, managing the journey. In the case of tractor unit drivers, this is a false sense of power as it is not them who decide on  the  directions and the course of their routes. They are fully dependent on forwarding agents, their working time and driving time regime, employees at various levels of hierarchy at loading and unloading loca - tions, and on various incidents (road accidents, traffic jams, weather conditions, breakdowns of tractor units). The food consumed by the drivers: its smell, preparation and consumption, constitutes the most expressive demonstration of their national origin. Food preparation also entails char - acteristic sounds: boiling water heated for coffee, potatoes being fried, meat sauces gurgling, vegetables being cut, the hissing sound from gas bottles, the  faint hum of a fridge. Audio file 18: Listening Polish electro-pop. Padborg, Denmark, 2011-08-14. https://app.box.com/embed/preview/1sknr3g2g1960901qpya?theme=dark Audio file 19: Frying Polish potatos. Oure, Denmark, 2011-08-13. https://app.box.com/embed/preview/gpuev6ujg55xkvqss0bc?theme=dark