Trucking by the Numbers 2018: The equipment fleets use

Aug. 27, 2018
Fleet Owner's look at the trucks that fleets are using on America's roadways today.

In our ongoing breakdown of the U.S. trucking industry by statistics and data is this revealing segment examining the equipment fleets are using to get the job done. In particular, we brought in information from Fleet Owner's sister publication WardsAuto in its latest in-depth Commercial Vehicle Intelligence Report for a look at the trucks by class, state, job category, age, and more.

There are many factors at play in the age of commercial vehicles on the road by class such as emissions equipment changes in heavy trucks, which at times has driven buy-outs just before a large change took hold. Class 7 and 8 trucks are at a historically low age—just 7.87 years on average—and that number could go lower thanks to strong fleet purchasing this year.

Find out whether light-, medium-, or heavy-duty trucks as a group are "youngest" and what all those trucks are doing. Check out what the fleets on America's roadways look like: are they private, for-hire, or owner-operators? (Hint: private fleets dominate.)

Examining commercial vehicle classes is also telling, highlighting how many trucks are sold in each class; you may not know that by far, Class 4 trucks trail the rest. We included a forecast of what's to come in the next decade for commercial vehicle sales overall. 

And in perhaps the most intriguing piece of information, we listed the top 10 brands of medium-duty (Classes 3-6) and heavy-duty (Classes 7-8) trucks on the roads today. This is an inclusive breakdown of trucks from all model years as you might encounter them traveling the highways—and the leaders might surprise you.

Launch slideshow: The equipment fleets use

Go to Trucking by the Numbers 2018: Trucking and freight snapshot

About the Author

Fleet Owner Staff

Our Editorial Team

Kevin Jones, Editorial Director, Commercial Vehicle Group

Cristina Commendatore, Executive Editor

Scott Achelpohl, Managing Editor 

Josh Fisher, Senior Editor

Catharine Conway, Digital Editor

Eric Van Egeren, Art Director

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