The trucking industry isn’t quite as big as the retirement plan industry, the health insurance industry, the supermarket industry, or some of the other gigantic industries in this country. But it is still one of the biggest industries that this country has ever seen!
The trucking industry is also an industry that helps to keep so many other industries in business. For example, there wouldn’t be a shipping industry or a logistics industry if the trucking industry didn’t exist.
For these reasons, you should give the trucking industry some respect. You should also try to appreciate the trucking industry more than you do now.
One of the ways to illustrate the importance of the trucking industry is by taking a look at the latest trucking industry statistics. They’ll help to paint a clearer picture of what the trucking industry means to America as a whole.
Check out some eye-opening trucking industry statistics below to get a better understanding of just how important the industry is.
The Trucking Industry Generates More Than $700 Billion Each Year
If you only remember one trucking industry statistic from this entire list, make sure that you remember this one. It makes it easy to see why the trucking industry plays such an integral part in this country’s economy.
Every single year, the trucking industry brings in more than $700 billion. And that number is expected to continue to rise in the years to come.
It shouldn’t be too long at all before the trucking industry is generating upwards of $1 billion on an annual basis. That alone should demonstrate why the trucking industry is such a key cog in the national economy.
The Trucking Industry Employs More Than 8 Million People
It’s not exactly a secret that there is a major trucker shortage in the U.S. at the moment. There is a need for about 80,000 truckers in the trucking industry at this time.
But here’s an astonishing trucking industry statistic: In spite of the trucker shortage, the trucking industry still has more than 8 million people working in it. This includes right around 3.6 million truckers in total.
That means that there are about as many truckers driving around the country every day as there are teachers. And when you put it that way, it drives home how essential that the trucking industry is to so many American families.
The Trucking Industry Contains About 1 Million Trucking Companies
There are a lot of truckers out there who save up money to purchase their own trucks and operate independently. But the vast majority of truckers work for one of the roughly 1 million trucking companies operating throughout the country right now.
Some of these trucking companies are very small and only employ a few drivers at most. But others are very large and employ hundreds, if not thousands, of drivers at a time.
Regardless of how big or small trucking companies might be, though, they all work hard to get America’s shipments where they need to be. Click for more information on the various trucking companies scattered throughout the country.
The Trucking Industry Is Responsible for Transporting About 75% of the Country’s Freight
There are a variety of ways in which people can go about shipping freight these days. They can ship it by air. They can also ship it by boat.
But the most popular way to ship freight nowadays is by relying on the trucking industry. It’s why almost 75% of the country’s freight is shipped by truck. In total, this adds up to be more than 10 billion tons of freight each year.
You should keep this in mind the next time that you decide to ship something. There is a very good chance that you’re going to be able to do it because of the trucking industry and all of the hard work that truckers put in day in and day out.
The Trucking Industry Logs Over 300 Billion Miles Every Single Year
If you were driving across the country, you would put about 3,000 miles on your car travelling from coast to coast. You would need to make that same trip a staggering 100 million times to log as many miles as the trucking industry does each year.
All of the trucks registered within the truck industry will travel about 300 billion miles every year on average. And they’ll often do it while carrying different types of shipping containers around. Even the best shipping containers can present unique challenges and make these some of the most hard-earned miles ever.
The Trucking Industry Burns Through Over 45 Billion Gallons of Fuel
The trucks that truck drivers use on a daily basis are a little bit more fuel-friendly than the trucks that truck drivers used to drive around in. But even still, the trucking industry is known to burn through its fair share of fuel every year.
In fact, the entire trucking industry uses about 45 billion gallons of fuel per year. That includes about 36 billion gallons of diesel fuel and about 9 billion gallons of gasoline.
This is yet another surprising statistic when you consider that the U.S. as a whole goes through right around 123 billion gallons of fuel each year. It really puts how much fuel the trucking industry uses into the proper perspective.
Stay On Top of the Latest Trucking Industry Statistics
All of these statistics are astonishing in their own way. But what’s even more astonishing is that just about every statistic on this list is going to increase in the coming years.
For this reason, you should make sure that you stay on top of the latest trucking industry statistics. You’ll appreciate the trucking industry even more than you already do when you follow along with the statistics that help to define it.
Would you like to learn even more about the trucking industry? Go take a look at some of the other articles that we’ve put together on it and posted on our blog.