TMAF Finds Americans Still Hold Favorable View of Trucking Industry

Trucking Moves America Forward found that a majority of Americans surveyed in a recent national poll held a favorable view of truck drivers and the trucking industry.

The online survey, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, surveyed 800 Americans with a driver’s license to determine perceptions of the trucking industry in the motoring public. TMAF’s results found that industry held a positive public image.

The group also compared these results with results from four years ago, to see how TMAF, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary, has impact public perception of the industry.

"TMAF was founded five years ago to help shift the public's perception of the trucking industry, which had suffered from an outdated and tarnished reputation,” said Kevin Burch, co-chairman of TMAF and president of Jet Express.  “Our latest poll shows that more Americans recognize that truck drivers are hardworking professionals who work diligently to safely deliver our goods on time.”

According to its survey results:

• 67% of American drivers hold a favorable view of the trucking industry, nearly the same as it was in 2015 at 68%.
• 74% of American drivers believe the trucking industry plays a very important role in the nation's economy, up from 71% in 2015.
• 70% of motorists are overwhelmingly positive about the trucking industry's safety record; the same in 2015.
• 86% view trucking as a career versus a temporary job, the same as 2015.
• A growing percentage of American motorists, 57%, believe that trucks move more freight than railroads or airplanes, an increase from 49% in 2015.
• Though a small percentage of motorists have seen, heard or read information about TMAF, of those who have, 83% have a more favorable view of the industry.

“Motorists have a much more positive view of the industry now, describing truck drivers as the 'backbone of our country,” said Burch. “Americans also understand the industry plays a very important role in the country's economy."

TMAF also highlighted its accomplishments over five years, including:

• 200 donors
• 3,410 subscribers
• 240 trailer wraps on the road, reaching a total of 38.4 billion Americans each year
• More than 344 million advertising impressions
• More than 200 earned media placements totaling 162 million impressions
• 16, 276 Facebook followers; 4,586 Twitter followers; 1,100 Instagram followers
• 24 blog posts

"As we enter our fifth year of operation, we will extend our message more broadly through our outreach and education efforts to reach more of the motoring public and aim to shift public perception even further," said Burch.