Trucking is a complex industry, impacted by a lot of other complex factors, from the economy to regulations to consumer buying trends. Numbers, statistics and data are a major key to success in the transportation business, whether you’re tracking how frequently you have to replace different brands of alternators or using sophisticated analytics to determine which drivers are most at risk for a crash.

This, our second annual HDT Fact Book, aims to give you additional numbers and statistics that can help you in your business.

The numbers on safety, for instance, may help you when the local paper or TV station comes calling. Industry figures help keep you on top of long-term trends and help you benchmark your operations against industry averages. And new this year, in conjunction with the struggle in Washington to pass a new long-term highway funding bill, is a section on highway statistics — perfect to refer to when communicating to your government representatives on the need for infrastructure funding.

We’ve combed through publicly available statistics and worked with researchers and analysts to bring you insights on the past, present and future of trucking.

Our hope is that once you’ve looked through all the charts, graphs and infographics and likely learned a few things you didn’t know before, that you’ll keep it handy all year long as a readily available reference guide.

View charts and slides showing data points from seven categories:

Industry

Highways

Equipment

Parts & Services

Safety

Drivers

Fuels