The release of the 2012 edition of ATA American Trucking Trends by the American Trucking Associations (ATA), now available for sale through ATA Business Solutions, shows that trucking continues to be the dominant mode of freight transportation and an integral part of the US economy.
”Trends is the singularly most important guide to trucking facts and figures,” ATA President and CEO Bill Graves says. “The information in this year's edition clearly indicates that trucking is the driving force behind our great, and improving, economy. Safe, reliable, and efficient motor carriers enable businesses throughout the entire supply chain to keep inventories lean, thereby saving the economy billions of dollars each year.”
Among the data compiled in Trends are:
- Trucking employs 6.8 million people, including more than 3 million drivers. Of those drivers, 4.6% are women and 32.6% are minorities.
- Trucking is the quintessential small business industry, with 90% of motor carriers operating six or fewer trucks and 97.2% operating fewer than 20.
- Overall in 2011, trucking moved $603.9 billion in freight — more than 80% of all freight transportation revenue. That freight weighed 9.2 billion tons — 67% of all freight by weight.
- Class 6-8 trucks traveled 131.2 billion miles in 2010, and all trucks regardless of size traveled 397.8 billion miles.
- In 2011, trucks consumed 37.2 billion gallons of diesel fuel.
“This year's edition of Trends makes it clear that following the Great Recession, trucking continues to lead the nation's economy back into a higher gear,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello says. “The data in Trends should be a guide for business executives and policy makers across the country as they chart the course for our continued recovery.”