The American trucking industry continues to demonstrate its dominance over the freight market, according to a report released by the American Trucking Associations this week, which showed the sector reached $700.1 billion in annual revenue in 2017.
The trucking industry revenue accounted for nearly 80 percent of the American freight bill. This comes from the moving of 10.77 billion tons of freight, and a responsibility for 69.1 percent of all trade between the United States and Mexico, as well as 57.7 percent of the trade between Canada and the United States.
“Information, when presented properly and accurately, tells a story,” Chris Spear, ATA president and CEO, said. “The information in these pages highlights exactly what I tell elected officials, regulators and key decision-makers every day: trucking is literally the driving force behind our great economy. Safe, reliable and efficient motor carriers enable businesses throughout the supply chain to maintain lean inventories, thereby saving the economy billions of dollars each year.”
ATA American Trucking Trends 2018 also noted that 3.5 million truckers are fueling this industry, helping contribute to 7.7 million people employed in trucking-related positions. Nearly half of those drivers were behind the wheels of heavy trucks and tractor-trailers. Further, minorities make up 40.6 percent of all drivers while 6.2 percent of truck drivers are women.