Truckin’ Trivia: 10 Fascinating Facts About the Logistics World!
Facts about logistics:
Did you know that without the vital role played by the trucking and logistics industry, we might miss out on having access to some of our favorite things?
Celebrate National Truck Driver Appreciation Week with us here at StB Freight Group by checking out ten interesting facts about the world of trucking and logistics that you may not have already known!
10 Facts About Logistics
- The trucking industry is responsible for 72.5% of the freight carried by the transportation industry. That means that almost three-quarters of the goods you use or consume every day were delivered by a truck at some point.
- Around 3.5 million (9.1%) truck drivers are currently employed in the US alone. These drivers operate over 4 million trucks and move about 10.5 billion tons of freight each year. That's equivalent to the weight of 1.4 billion elephants!
- In 2022, the Women In Trucking (WIT) Index reported the percentage of professional drivers that are female increased to 13.7% from its previous 10% in 2019. This shows that more women are joining the trucking industry and breaking stereotypes.
- Clothing, packaged foods, and electronics are among some of the most popular commodities that are moved by truck daily. You might not realize it, but your wardrobe, pantry, and gadgets depend on truck drivers reaching you!
- On average, an individual truck driver covers anywhere from 100,000 miles to 110,000 miles a year, sometimes even more! That's more than four times the circumference of the Earth.
- There are over 20,000 Third Party Logistics (3PL) businesses in the US as of 2023. These businesses provide various services to the trucking industry, such as warehousing, distribution, transportation management, freight brokerage, and more.
- According to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), trucks carrying freight have contributed 29.4% of the greenhouse gas emissions, which makes the transportation industry the largest contributor to climate change. The trucking industry is facing challenges and opportunities to reduce its environmental impact and adopt cleaner technologies.
- An average of 134.55 billion gallons of gasoline were used in the trucking industry in 2022. That's enough to fill over 200 million Olympic-sized swimming pools! Fuel is one of the major expenses for truck drivers and trucking companies.
- About 40% of truck drivers travel with their pets! Having a furry companion can help reduce stress, loneliness, and boredom for truck drivers who spend long hours on the road. Some of the most common pets are dogs, cats, birds, and even snakes!
- If you lined up all U.S. trucks, they would reach the moon. That's right, the distance between the Earth and the moon is about 238,900 miles (~384,473 kilometers), and there are over 15.5 million trucks with an average of about 15 feet in length in the US. If you put them bumper to bumper, they would stretch for about 233,250 miles (~375,379 kilometers)!
When it comes to facts about logistics, the trucking industry is bursting with many facts that highlight its incredible diversity. Did you know that the largest truck ever built was over 300 feet long and weighed over 1 million pounds? Though we can’t cover all of them here, when you see a truck on the road, take a moment to acknowledge the hardworking driver behind the wheel. Who knows, they might just be delivering something you adore!