The US trucking industry generated more than US$700 billion in 2017, figures released by the American Trucking Associations (ATA) show.

The organisation released its annual collection of trucking data, the ‘ATA American Trucking Trends 2018‘ this week, highlighting the industry‘s dominance over the freight market.

“Trucking is a critical part of the economy and the supply chain,” said ATA chief economist Bob Costello. “Trends allows policymakers and business leaders to see just how big that impact is while debating key issues like trade, infrastructure investment, workforce development and tax policy.”

Trucks moved 57 percent of freight between Canada and the US last year, and 69 percent of freight between the US and Mexico.

About 7.7 million people are employed in the transport industry in the US, including 3.5 million drivers who moved 10.77 billion tons of freight, representing about 70 percent of all US freight tonnage. Minorities accounted for more than 40 percent of all drivers, and 6.2 percent were women.

“Information, when presented properly and accurately, tells a story,” said ATA president and CEO Chris Spear. “The information in these pages highlights exactly what I tell elected officials, regulators and key decision-makers every day: trucking is literally the driving force behind our great economy. Safe, reliable and efficient motor carriers enable businesses throughout the supply chain to maintain lean inventories, thereby saving the economy billions of dollars each year.”