ATA: Trucking Trends Report Shows Impact of Pandemic on Industry
How much freight did trucks move in 2020? How many people are employed in the trucking industry? Find out in these highlights of ATA's annual Trucking Trends Report.

The trucking industry collected 80.4% of the nation’s freight bill, according to ATA.
File Photo: Jim Park
The trucking industry moved 10.23 billion tons of freight in 2020, generating $732.3 billion in revenue, according to the latest edition of American Trucking Associations’ American Trucking Trends 2021.
“We knew that the pandemic had a significant impact on our industry, but this year’s trends shows that despite those challenges, the trucking industry remained our nation’s lifeline – delivering the life-saving and life-sustaining essentials our country needed in a time of great need,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello in a press release.
Among the findings in trends:
In 2020, trucks moved 10.23 billion tons of freight – down from 11.84 billion tons the previous year.
The industry collected 80.4% of the nation’s freight bill, unchanged from the previous year, while generating $732.3 billion.
Trucking employed 7.65 million people in industry-related jobs, including 3.36 million professional truck drivers.
Women made up 7.8% of the nation’s drivers – an all-time high – and minorities account for 42.3% of truck drivers.
Trucking remains a small business industry: 91.5% of fleets operate six or fewer trucks, and 97.4% operate less than 20.
Trucks moved 70.9% of the value of surface trade between the U.S. and Canada and 83.8% of cross-border trade with Mexico, for a total of $695 billion worth of goods.
More Fleet Management

Give Your Trucking Fleet a Cybersecurity Walkaround
Your fleet's cybersecurity policies may look good on paper. These seven checks can help you find out whether they’re working.
Read More →
Kodiak Lines Up Fleets for Driverless Trucking
An agreement for 75 trucks, a new Texas freight lane, and progress on safety validation move Kodiak closer to its planned driverless highway launch.
Read More →
ITS Logistics Settles Religious Harassment Case
The Nevada-based logistics firm agreed to pay more than $396,000 to settle a religious harassment charge involving an employee's Jewish identity.
Read More →
Your Trucks Are Busy. That Doesn’t Mean They’re Winning.
High utilization doesn’t always mean strong margins. Looking beyond the current load can help fleets make better dispatch decisions and get more value from each truck’s time.
Read More →
Why This Trucking Recovery Is Different
Freight demand remains sluggish, but rising costs and tougher enforcement have taken enough capacity out of the market to change the outlook for motor carriers.
Read More →
Platform Science Adds Dispatch and Safety Tools
Four additions to PS Fleet help fleets monitor loads, manage driver coaching, share truck locations and adjust video system settings.
Read More →
PrePass Intelligence Mines Fleet Bypass, Toll and Safety Data
PrePass Intelligence helps fleets measure bypass savings, flag potential toll overcharges, and spot suspicious transactions by combining data from separate systems.
Read More →
Motive Adds AI Agents for Fleet Operations
New tools automate follow-up on fleet data, from maintenance work orders to driver alerts, with two-way voice conversations planned for later this year.
Read More →Can You Beat Our Trucking Trivia Challenge?
Test your truck knowledge with 19 trivia questions from Heavy Duty Trucking Exchange. Can you keep up with the fleet pros?
Read More →
BeyondTrucks Adds Rules Checks to Dispatch
New Compatibility Engine checks driver qualifications, equipment requirements and fleet policies before loads are dispatched.
Read More →
