ATA report touts trucking as driving force behind US economy

ARLINGTON, Va. -- The American Trucking Associations has released the 2012 edition of ATA American Trucking Trends, which, according to the group, highlights trucking as 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,” said ATA president and CEO Bill Graves. “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:

- Trucking employs 6.8 million people, including more than three 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 tonnes – 67% of all freight by weight.

- Class 6-8 trucks travelled 131.2 billion miles in 2010, and all trucks regardless of size travelled 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,” said ATA chief economist Bob Costello. “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.”

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