Trucking Carried More Than 10 Billion Tons of Freight in ’06, ATA Says

The U.S. trucking industry hauled more goods than ever before in 2006, the American Trucking Associations said Friday.

American Trucking Trends 2007-2008 reported that the trucking industry hauled 69% of U.S. freight volume in 2006.

That equates to an all-time high of 10.7 billion tons and $645.6 billion in revenue, representing 83.8% of the nation’s freight bill, the trucking group said.

“Americans should understand that their national economy is directly linked to freight transportation,” ATA President Bill Graves said in a statement. “Trucking is the driving force behind our great economy.”

American Trucking Trends, an annual report produced by ATA, reported that more than 26 million trucks of all classes played a part in reaching the tonnage milestone.

Of those, 2.9 million were typical Class 8 trucks operated by more than 750,000 interstate motor carriers.