Trucking

In April 2025, the U.S. local freight trucking industry was valued at $99.4 billion, with 360,000 businesses employing 638,000 people, according to IBISWorld. Demand for local freight trucking services has increased in recent years. Growing Internet retail sales should increase business for parcel and package carriers, such as the U.S. Postal Service, United Parcel Service, and Federal Express.

In March 2025, the U.S. long-distance freight trucking industry was valued at $285.5 billion, was composed of 660,000 businesses, and had total employment of 1 million people, according to IBISWorld. Long-distance freight trucking in the U.S. is expected to have steady growth during the next decade, due to increased retail spending, which will increase shipments to and from U.S. ports that require trucking services. Proposed tariffs by the Trump administration may reduce imports and exports, but it is too soon to tell what the effects of potential tariffs will have on the industry.

Current and ongoing issues that the trucking industry must face include highway transportation safety, regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The trucking industry must comply with environmental regulations, such as diesel engine emissions rules and water quality standards at maintenance facilities. The DOT governs work hours and other conditions, and the trucking industry is also working with labor and safety groups to improve hours-of-service rules for drivers.

Autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles are the next frontier for the trucking industry as a means to increase efficiency and address driver shortages in some areas. In 2018, Embark Trucking was the first software company to test self-driving technology on public roads. The test consisted of a five-day, 2,400-mile trip from Los Angeles to Jacksonville, Florida. In May 2021, the autonomous vehicle company TuSimple initiated a test in which a self-driving truck transported a load of watermelons from Nogales, Arizona, to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 14 hours. This was 42 percent faster than when it took a human driver to complete the route. The introduction of autonomous and semi-autonomous trucks is only in its early stages. Some highways are already equipped with smart-enabled road infrastructure, which is necessary for the use of these vehicles, but the technology is not installed on most local roads (which necessitates the use of a human driver for these roads). If autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles are eventually in wide use, demand for drivers may decline, but there will be a growing need for software developers and artificial intelligence specialists to develop self-driving technology.

There will be many employment opportunities in the trucking industry for trained and skilled workers in the coming years. However, growth depends on the general economy. If orders and shipments slow down during a recession, trucking suffers. There is strong competition in the industry, both among trucking companies and with the railroad industry. Some trucking companies are expanding their businesses to include logistical services, such as inventory management and just-in-time shipping.

Employment for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers is expected to grow about as fast as the average for all careers from 2023 through 2033, according to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). Opportunities for qualified candidates will be strong due to the difficulty in locating skilled drivers. American Trucking Associations reports that there is a major shortage of long-haul truckers. It predicts that an additional 160,000 drivers will be needed by 2030.

Employment in the office and administrative support side of the trucking business is expected to be good. There is considerable turnover in the field and beginners are able to find many openings. Competition will remain strong for the more desirable jobs, such as those with large companies or the easiest routes.

The DOL reports that the average annual wage of workers in the industry was $57,520. This is lower than the national average ($63,098) for all private sector workers. Average annual earnings for selected careers were as follows in 2023:

• software developers: $103,350
• first-line supervisors/managers of transportation and material-moving machine and vehicle operators: $68,920
• logisticians: $60,990
• truck drivers-heavy and tractor-trailer: $57,760
• truck drivers-light or delivery services: $47,350
• shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks: $42,540

Women comprised 7.9 percent of truck drivers in 2023, according to the DOL. This is lower than their representation (47 percent) in the American workforce. The driver shortage could be reduced if more women entered the field. Organizations such as Women in Trucking and American Trucking Associations (which has a Women in Motion Mentorship Program) are making efforts to increase the number of women in the trucking industry.