The American Trucking Associations (ATA) recently released the latest edition of ATA American Trucking Trends 2017.
The ATA releases information on the trucking industry annually.
In 2016, the trucking industry generated $676.2 billion in revenue. This is equivalent to 79.8 percent of the nation’s freight bill.
The industry paid $41.3 billion in state and federal highway fees and taxes with the average five-axle tractor trailer paying approximately $5,600.
Trucks shipped 10.42 billion tons of freight, 70.6 percent of domestic freight tonnage.
The trucking industry employs 7.4 million people in the United States, and most motor carriers are small businesses; 97.3 percent operate less than 20 trucks. Of the employees, 3.5 million were truck drivers. Six percent were women drivers and 38.7 percent were minorities.
Last year, 33.8 million trucks were registered for business purposes. They traveled 450.4 billion miles, burning 15.5 billion gallons of gasoline and 38.8 billion gallons of diesel.
“The information in Trends highlights exactly what I tell elected officials, regulators and key decision-makers every day: trucking is literally the driving force behind our great economy,” ATA President and CEO Chris Spear said. “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.”