The U.S. trucking industry generated $940.8 billion in gross freight revenue in 2022, accounting for roughly 80.5 percent of the nation's total freight bill, according to a compiled review of federal and industry data sources including the American Trucking Associations, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Trucks carried 72.4 percent of the nation's freight by value in 2021, moving $11.6 trillion worth of goods, and the industry as a whole supports an estimated 8.5 million jobs across direct and indirect employment. Trucking's broader footprint reaches further still, contributing roughly $1.2 trillion annually to U.S. GDP, or about 5.9 percent of total economic output.

Workforce figures show the industry employed 3.55 million drivers in 2023, with heavy and tractor-trailer drivers alone numbering 2.2 million and earning a median wage of $54,320 that year. A persistent driver shortage, estimated at 80,000 in 2023, is projected to climb toward 160,000 by 2030 and could peak near 200,000 by 2028 under some industry projections. Small businesses own 96 percent of U.S. trucking companies and collectively employ 90 percent of the sector's workforce.

On the equipment side, the country had 12.1 million trucks registered in 2022, including 3.5 million Class 8 vehicles, with fuel costs alone reaching $172 billion that year, about 30 percent of total operating expenses.

Source: Gitnux - https://gitnux.org/u-s-trucking-industry-statistics/