Steel Products
Commerce Depends on Nation’s Trucks
Written by Tim Triplett
August 15, 2017
Trucking industry revenues hit $676.2 billion in 2016, nearly 80 percent of the nation’s total freight bill, reports the American Trucking Associations in the trade group’s just released “ATA American Trucking Trends 2017” report.
Among the findings in this year’s edition:
· Trucks moved 10.42 billion tons of freight last year, 70.6 percent of all domestic freight tonnage.
· The nation’s commercial trucks paid $41.3 billion in state and federal highway user fees and taxes. The average five-axle tractor trailer pays more than $5,600 in taxes annually.
· There were 33.8 million trucks registered for business purposes, including 3.68 million Class 8 trucks. Those trucks burned 38.8 billion gallons of diesel fuel and 15.5 billion gallons of gasoline and traveled 450.4 billion miles.
· About 7.4 million Americans are employed in trucking-related jobs, including 3.5 million as truck drivers. About 6 percent of those drivers are women and 38.7 percent are minorities.
· Trucking is an industry made up of small businesses: 91 percent of motor carriers operate six or fewer trucks and 97.3 percent operate less than 20.
{loadposition reserved_message}
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/tim-triplett.jpeg)
Tim Triplett
Read more from Tim TriplettLatest in Steel Products
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/CMC-New-Logo.png)
CMC to open rebar fabrication facility in Ohio
Longs producer and metal recycler CMC plans to open a new rebar fabrication plant in Akron, Ohio.
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/Featured_News_Icons/steel_trade.png)
US and Mexico take action to curb ‘unfair’ trade
The US and Mexico announced measures on Wednesday to prevent tariff evasion and protect North America’s steel and aluminum industries.
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/Featured_News_Icons/gears.png)
Final thoughts
First off, we hope everyone had a safe and happy July 4th holiday, with fireworks seen and BBQs attended. Many parts of the country are quite toasty at the moment, signaling that, yes, summer has indeed arrived. And looking at our most recent survey results, the summer doldrums have arrived as well.
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Rig_count_pic_3-scaled.jpg)
Active rig counts recover in US, slip in Canada
US drill rig activity moved back up last week after drifting lower for four straight weeks. Meanwhile, Canadian counts slipped for the first time after a seven-week rally, according to the latest data from Baker Hughes.
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/Featured_News_Icons/AISI.png)
AISI: US steel shipments up in May from April, off from 2023
Domestic steel shipments increased in May month over month but have fallen on-year.