Fun Facts About Truck Driving in the U.S.

  • Fun Facts About Truck Driving in the U.S.

    05

    Nov

    Fun Facts About Truck Driving in the U.S.

    Truck drivers are the backbone of commerce in the U.S. Trucking moves 71% of all freight in the U.S. and provides nearly 6% of all full-time jobs in the country. Here are a few surprising facts about the U.S. trucking industry:

    Revenues

    According to Business Insider, “In 2017, the American trucking industry posted revenues higher than the GDP of more than 150 nations.” 

    The trucking industry generated over $700 billion — the equivalent of the 33rd nation in GDP in that year.

    Jobs

    In 2018, 7.4 million Americans were employed by the trucking industry — 5.8% of the 129 million full-time jobs in America that year.

    40.6% of all trucking jobs are held by minorities — significantly above the 22% national average.

    There are about 200,000 female long haul drivers.

    The largest employers? Walmart employs more than 8,600 truckers. On average, a Walmart trucker earns nearly $88,000 per year.

    Freight

    In 2017, trucks moved nearly 11 billion tons of freight — significantly more than was moved by trains, boats and air. That is equivalent to 30 pounds worth of goods for every man, woman and child in the country. 

    The top transferred goods in America are:

    • Clothing
    • Food
    • Furniture
    • Electrical goods
    • Machinery goods

    The average big rig carries 80,000 pounds, or 40 tons, of freight at one time.

    Groceries

    If long-haul truckers stopped driving, most grocery stores would start running out of food in just three days. 

    90% of the food Americans consume is hauled by refrigerated trucks.

    Miles

    On average, a professional long-haul trucker logs more than 100,000 miles every year. That is about 2,000 to 3,000 miles per week. In contrast, the average American drives about 13,500 miles in one year.

    In one year, the trucking industry consumes 50 billion gallons of gasoline, or nearly 13% of the country’s total fuel consumption.

    Going Green

    Progress in clean diesel technology has significantly reduced emissions from trucks. Today, emissions from 60 trucks would equal the emissions of one truck in 1988.

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