ATA Trends: Trucking sector showed strength pre-pandemic

While 2019 was not the watershed year for trucking that 2018 was, that doesn’t mean that 2019 wasn’t a strong year for the sector. That thesis was firmly supported in data issued last month by the American Trucking Associations (ATA) in its “ATA American Trucking Trends 2020.”

The report serves as the ATA’s annual data compendium regarding the trucking sector. ATA officials view the publication as indispensable for use by motor carriers, industry suppliers, logistics providers, analysts as well as public policy makers. And when examining the 2019 data, it tells a solid story about the state of trucking, even if it does fall short of 2018 levels.

For example, ATA reported that the trucking industry generated $791.7 billion in revenue in 2019, comprising 80.4% of the total U.S. freight bill, and moved 11.84 billion tons of freight. For comparison’s sake, in 2018, industry revenue came in at $796.7 billion, comprising 80.3% of the total U.S. freight bill, and moved slightly less weight, at 11.49 billion tons, which equates to 71.4% of the nation’s tonnage freight.

What’s more, “American Trucking Trends 2020” found that in 2019, trucks accounted for 67.7% of total surface freight between the United States and Canada and 83.1% of U.S. cross-border trade with Mexico, representing a cumulative $772 billion in goods. And it also found that 7.95 million people—a tally that includes 3.6 million drivers—held trucking-related jobs in 2019, marking a 140,000 person annual increase over 2018.

Other personnel-related findings revealed that women comprise 6.7% of the sector’s drivers, with minorities representing 41.5% of truckers. And 91.3% of U.S. fleets have six or fewer trucks, with 97.4% operating 20 or fewer trucks.

ATA chief economist Bob Costello observed that while 2019 could be viewed as a challenging year, the publication’s data paints a positive picture for the sector in advance of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

And while we’re still clearly in unsettling and uncertain times, a consistent staple throughout good times and bad in the supply chain are the industry’s assets—especially it’s trucks. Trucking is often viewed as a benchmark of economic activity and an indicator of where things may be headed. And even though we’re still mired amid a pandemic, that simply hasn’t changed.

When demand heads up, trucking will be there, moving goods through the bloodstream of the American economy—a fact that remains a supply chain and logistics constant.