Report Highlights Importance of Trucking Industry

A recent report by the American Trucking Association highlights the impact the trucking industry has on the nation.  According to the report, trucking continues to be the dominant mode of freight transportation in the U.S.

“Good data is important to good policymaking,” said ATA President and CEO Bill Graves. “And the data in Trends shows a dynamic, growing industry that is the literal lifeblood of the U.S. economy.”

Among the findings in this year’s edition of Trends:

• Trucks moved 9.4 billion tons of freight in 2012, or 68.5% of all domestic shipments. Both figures are up from the previous year.
• In 2012, trucking generated $642.1 billion in gross freight-related revenues, or 80.7% of the nation’s freight bills, also increases from 2011.
• There are 6.9 million people employed in trucking-related industries.
• The majority of trucking companies are small businesses – with 90.5% operating six or fewer trucks. Only 2.8% of fleets operate more than 20 trucks.
• Class 6-8 trucks traveled 137.2 billion miles in 2011 – up 4.7% from the previous year.
• The trucking industry paid $36.5 billion in federal and state highway user fees and taxes in 2011 – a 10.3% increase from 2009.

“As the nation continues to travel the road to recovery following the Great Recession it is becoming increasingly clear that trucking is leading the way,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “The data in Trends should provide a road map for policy makers and business leaders as they continue to plot the course of that recovery.”

American Trucking Trends 2013 is available exclusively from ATA Business Solutions and participating state trucking associations. To learn more, or to purchase the report, go to trucking.org or call 866-821-3468 (inside the United States) or 703-838-1700 (outside the U.S.).