US Trucking Revenue Sets Record in 2014, Surpasses $700 Billion, ATA Report Says
This story appears in the May 18 print edition of Transport Topics.
Trucking industry revenue set a record last year, reaching $700.4 billion, American Trucking Associations reported.
The federation’s statement was part of an announcement about the publication of its 2015 American Trucking Trends report.
The 4.8% revenue increase was accompanied by records for tonnage that were set, and later broken, in several months.
“Last year, we saw freight volumes grow significantly,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “Increases in freight, combined with continued tight capacity, helped drive revenues. Coupled with lower fuel prices, we saw motor carriers go on a buying spree for new trucks as they replaced older equipment.”
Costello explained that the Trends report presents a broad range of facts about trucking during 2014, a year that also included the second-best truck sales pace ever as fleets’ rising profits enabled them to invest in new equipment.
“The value of Trends is that it is the one source where you can get all sorts of data on the industry. It truly is the Almanac of our industry,” Costello said.
The Trends report, which contains historical data to provide a broader perspective on trucking activity, contains industry-specific information and broader reports on U.S. economic trends.
Trucking information covers the total number of all classes of trucks in operation (more than 30 million), number of fleets (1.36 million), fuel consumption (52.7 billion gallons) and miles traveled (275 billion). Class 8 trucks, counting 2.3 million units and close to 500,000 for-hire carriers, logged 168.4 billion miles while spending $147.2 billion on diesel.
Also included are employment data, revenue and freight volume trends, and truck registrations.
An entire section is devoted to taxes, which include $16.5 billion in federal user fees annually and another $20.8 billion to states.
One section spotlights industry safety, as well as highway congestion that costs the trucking industry $9 billion annually.
“The information in these pages highlights that trucking is literally the driving force behind our great economy,” ATA President Bill Graves wrote in the report.
Both U.S. and cross-border economic data are provided. The trade data for North America showed that 54% of goods measured by value traveled between the United States and Canada by truck last year and 67% on that basis went to or from Mexico.
The report also stated that trucks last year moved nearly 10 billion tons of freight, representing 68.8% of all tonnage.
By revenue, trucking accounted for 80.3% of spending on all freight transportation.
