Trucking industry moved 11.84 billion tons of freight in 2019

The trucking industry generated $791.7 billion in revenue in 2019, moving 11.84 billion tons of freight, according to the latest edition of the American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) annual data compendium – the ATA American Trucking Trends 2020. 

The Arlington, Virginia-based association reports that trucking remained the dominant freight mode in the U.S. in 2019, based on its findings. 

“Despite a challenging year, the data contained in American Trucking Trends shows the industry was in good shape entering the global pandemic,” says ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “Trends continues to be an indispensable, one-stop resource for decision makers to have the latest information about the state of the trucking industry.”

The following were some key findings of the association’s ATA American Trucking Trends 2020 study:

• trucking revenues accounted for 80.4 percent of the nation’s freight in 2019; 

• trucks moved 67.7 percent of surface freight between the U.S. and Canada and 83.1 percent of cross-border trade with Mexico for a total of $772 billion worth of goods;

• there were 7.95 million people employed in trucking-related jobs in 2019, and 3.6 million of those people are in professional driver positions;

• women make up 6.7 percent of the industry’s drivers and minorities account for 41.5 percent of truckers; and

• most carriers are small companies, with 91.3 percent of fleets operating six or fewer trucks and 97.4 percent operating 20 or fewer trucks. 

ATA’s new report offers more insights on logistics and trucking trends. It can be purchased here.