In fact, most other industries are dependent on the trucking industry even for their day-to-day activities. Hence, it should come as no big surprise that about 71% of the goods transported in the USA is done by truckers. Moreover, about 7.4 million US citizens are employed in this particular industry.
With that large a footprint, any big moves here have big repercussions. For instance, the ELD mandate for 16th December 2019 in California has caught the headlines! After all, the industry is so vast, and adopting a completely new system will definitely pose a bit of a challenge for owners and operators alike. However, as more and more ELDs for truck drivers are being bought and installed to meet the FMCSA regulations this story will fade out and another will take its place.
But this post isn’t about the FMCSA certified ELD for trucks or the best ELD device for trucks. This is about the big numbers of this bis business.
Ready for some more amazing numbers on the trucking industry? Let us thril you then:
- The trucking industry in the US was worth 700 billion dollars in 2017. Whoa! Quite a number, right?
- The world’s second-largest trucking company is Old Dominion Freight Line, US, which is valued at 12.6 billion dollars, as of June 2019. Moreover, there are about 1.2 million trucking companies in our country alone.
- In 2017, about 10.77 billion tonnes of goods were transported by truckers. That’s more than 70% of all domestic goods transported throughout the country. The USA trucking industry is larger than the entire GDP of 150 countries.
- A 2017 study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, showed that about 7.4 million people were employed in the trucking industry alone, where the total number of full-time jobs in the USA is about 129 million. You do the math to understand how big an employer this business is!
- According to the American Trucking Associations, the trucking companies need about 60,000 drivers at present to meet the increasing demands for logistics and transportation. That number could go up to about 160,000 shortly.
- In the last decade, the US trucking industry has grown by roughly 21%. Well!
- Even women truckers are encouraged to take up jobs in the business. At present, there are about 200,000 female long-distance truckers working in the industry, and the number is still growing.
- You may also be surprised to know that out of every 14 jobs in the country, one is directly or indirectly influenced by the trucking industry.
- About 50 billion gallons of gasoline is annually consumed by the trucking industry. It is about 13% of all the fuel consumption in the country.
- Approximately 13.4% of all registered vehicles in the country are commercial trucks. In 2017, about $17.7 billion was paid by them in federal highway-user taxes and $25.8 billion in the state ones. The registered trucks also covered a total distance of about 297.6 billion miles in 2017.
- Coming to international trading, in 2018, about 67.4% of the total value of the USA and Canada surface trade was driven by the trucking industry and 83.5% of the USA and Mexico surface trade value.
And just a couple of numbers about ELD for truck drivers.
- Coming to the ELD mandate, there are about 209 FMCSA compliant manufacturers. But you need the best electronic logging devices out there if you are planning to buy an easy to use ELD for truck drivers.
- The electronic logging devices have been able to keep the drivers safer on the road. There have been reports of about 1,844 crashes avoided, which amounts to more than 500 fewer injuries caused due to truck accidents and about 26 lives being saved, with an increase in its usage.
Still hungry for more numbers?
Well, according to a report by the Career Builder, the average annual salary of a truck driver in the States is $41,500. However, this number varies from city to city and state to state. The more experienced a trucker gets the higher the salary he/she will earn. This apart, truckers in the general freight industry tend to earn more than the ones in the wholesale trade. Lastly, the truckers, who have their own vehicles, also make more.
Does that appease your thirst for numbers?
It doesn’t matter if you are an owner, or an operator, or both, these numbers should serve to convince you of the massive role of the trucking industry in the nation’s and the world’s economy.
