Truck statistics span far more than sales or registrations. In the United States, 2022 data counted 11,083,997 registered single-unit trucks and 3,249,824 registered combination trucks, while federal safety tables recorded 5,279 fatal crashes involving large trucks in the same year.
The measures below distinguish observed counts from modeled freight estimates, surveys and forecasts.
Key Truck Statistics
The most broadly useful truck statistics in the available U.S. data are:
- 11,083,997 registered single-unit trucks in 2022 in the United States.
- 3,249,824 registered combination trucks in 2022 in the United States.
- 3,196.2 billion vehicle-miles traveled by all motor vehicles in 2022 in the United States.
- 42 commodity types covered by FAF5 in its U.S. freight-flow framework.
- 132 FAF zones used by FAF5 for U.S. freight-flow estimates.
- 5,279 fatal crashes involving large trucks in 2022 in the United States.
- 503,000 estimated large-truck crashes in 2022 in the United States.
- 241 large-truck fatal crashes in work zones in 2022 in the United States.
- 2,909,709 driver inspections in 2023 recorded by FMCSA for large trucks and buses in the United States.
- 22.6% vehicle out-of-service rate in 2023 among U.S. large-truck and bus vehicle inspections.
- 174,620 hazardous-material inspections in 2023 in the United States.
- 892,450 heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers employed in May 2024 in the U.S. truck transportation industry.
- $58,640 median annual wage for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in May 2025 in the United States.
- 4% projected employment growth from 2025 to 2035 for U.S. heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers.
- 214,500 projected annual driver openings from 2025 to 2035 in the United States.
- $152 billion in estimated large-truck and bus crash costs in 2022 in the United States.
Contents
- Truck vehicle population and road-use statistics
- Truck freight statistics and FAF5 forecasts
- Truck safety and work-zone crash statistics
- Truck inspection and out-of-service statistics
- Truck workforce, wage and outlook statistics
- Truck crash costs and hazardous-material outcomes
Truck Vehicle Population and Road-Use Statistics
FMCSA’s 2022 large-vehicle population table provides a useful starting point, but its categories must be read precisely. The registration figures are counts of vehicles registered in the United States, not estimates of the active fleet, and the vehicle-miles figure covers all motor vehicles rather than trucks only.
| Measure | 2022 U.S. count | Definition or limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Registered vehicles | 283,400,986 | All motor vehicles; registration count |
| Single-unit trucks | 11,083,997 | FMCSA registration category |
| Combination trucks | 3,249,824 | Includes tractor-trailers |
| Buses | 954,119 | Context category in the large-vehicle table |
| Vehicle-miles traveled | 3,196.2 billion | All motor vehicles, not truck-only VMT |
Source: 2024 Pocket Guide to Large Truck and Bus Statistics.
The 283,400,986 total therefore should not be presented as a truck population. It is the all-motor-vehicle denominator in the table, while the single-unit and combination-truck rows identify specific FMCSA registration categories.
Truck Freight Statistics and FAF5 Forecasts
The Freight Analysis Framework Version 5, or FAF5, describes freight movement through modeled flows rather than a direct census of individual truck trips. Its measures include weight, value and ton-miles, and its geography is organized around 132 U.S. FAF zones.
FAF5’s scope includes 42 commodity types and a 2017 base year. The framework also provides annual modeled estimates for 2018 through 2023, a preliminary annual estimate for 2024, forecast years from 2030 through 2050, state-level historical trend estimates for 1997 through 2012, and an experimental county-to-county estimate for 2022.
| FAF5 element | Period or scope | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Base year | 2017 | Benchmark year for the framework |
| Annual estimates | 2018–2023 | Modeled, version-dependent estimates |
| Preliminary estimate | 2024 | Subject to revision |
| Forecast years | 2030–2050 | Scenario forecasts, not observed outcomes |
| Historical trends | 1997–2012 | Reprocessed state-level estimates |
| Experimental county flows | 2022 | County-to-county product based on an earlier FAF version |
Source: Freight Analysis Framework Version 5 (FAF5).
These dates matter when comparing truck freight data. A 2024 FAF5 value is preliminary, a 2030–2050 value is a forecast, and a 2017 value is a modeled base-year benchmark; none is equivalent to a registration count or a literal trip count.
Truck Safety and Work-Zone Crash Statistics
FMCSA safety statistics combine several measurement systems. Fatal-crash counts come from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, while estimated total crash counts combine FARS with the sample-based Crash Report Sampling System, so nonfatal and property-damage-only totals are rounded estimates.
| Year | Fatal crashes involving large trucks | Estimated crashes involving large trucks |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 4,502 | 511,000 |
| 2020 | 4,423 | 407,000 |
| 2021 | 5,178 | 494,000 |
| 2022 | 5,279 | 503,000 |
Source: 2024 Pocket Guide to Large Truck and Bus Statistics.
In the same 2022 source, 5,476 fatal crashes involved large trucks and buses together. For FARS, a large truck means a vehicle with gross vehicle weight rating greater than 10,000 pounds; the broader large-truck-and-bus total should therefore not be substituted for the large-truck-only figure.
Work-zone exposure is another distinct measure. Large-truck fatal crashes in work zones totaled 249 in 2019, 205 in 2020, 291 in 2021 and 241 in 2022; the corresponding shares of large-truck fatal crashes were 5.5%, 4.6%, 5.6% and 4.6%.
Large trucks accounted for 29.4% of all work-zone fatal crashes in 2022. The work-zone classification follows FARS, and unknown locations are outside the work-zone count.
Truck Inspection and Out-of-Service Statistics
FMCSA recorded 2,909,709 driver inspections and 1,994,946 vehicle inspections in 2023. These inspection tables include large trucks and buses and combine federal and state inspections, so they describe inspection activity rather than a truck-only national fleet rate.
| 2023 inspection measure | Count or rate |
|---|---|
| Driver inspections | 2,909,709 |
| Driver out-of-service rate | 6.4% |
| Vehicle inspections | 1,994,946 |
| Vehicle out-of-service rate | 22.6% |
| Hazardous-material inspections | 174,620 |
| Hazardous-material out-of-service rate | 4.0% |
Source: 2024 Pocket Guide to Large Truck and Bus Statistics.
The inspection-level counts show how the 2023 activity was distributed across selected categories:
- FMCSA recorded 839,638 Level I full inspections.
- FMCSA recorded 1,057,511 Level II walk-around inspections.
- FMCSA recorded 1,011,089 Level III driver-only inspections.
- FMCSA recorded 96,326 Level V terminal inspections.
Hazardous-material inspections were counted when hazardous materials were present. The 4.0% hazmat out-of-service rate is therefore specific to that inspection definition and should not be generalized to every truck carrying freight.
Truck Workforce, Wage and Outlook Statistics
BLS industry employment estimates show the scale of truck transportation occupations in May 2024, while the Occupational Outlook Handbook provides national wage and projection data for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers. The industry table is narrower than all employment involving trucks.
| Occupation in truck transportation | May 2024 employment |
|---|---|
| Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers | 892,450 |
| Freight, stock and material movers | 107,290 |
| Bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists | 57,300 |
| Light truck drivers | 49,890 |
| Dispatchers | 41,300 |
Source: OEWS Chart: Largest Occupations in Truck Transportation, May 2024.
For heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers across the United States, the median annual wage was $58,640 in May 2025. The lower 10% earned less than $40,140, while the highest 10% earned more than $79,380; these are wage-distribution thresholds, not an average salary.
BLS projects 4% employment growth for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers from 2025 to 2035. It also projects about 214,500 openings per year on average during that period, including replacement openings as well as growth openings.
Source: Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers: Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Truck Crash Costs and Hazardous-Material Outcomes
FMCSA estimated total large-truck and bus crash costs at $152 billion in 2022, using a cost model based on FARS and CRSS. The components may not sum exactly because of rounding, and the estimate is not an accounting total.
| 2022 crash-cost category | Estimated cost |
|---|---|
| All large-truck and bus crashes | $152 billion |
| Fatal crashes | $83 billion |
| Injury crashes | $49 billion |
| Property-damage-only crashes | $21 billion |
Source: 2024 Pocket Guide to Large Truck and Bus Statistics.
The same FMCSA methodology reported all large-truck and bus crash costs of $143 billion in 2019, $127 billion in 2020 and $148 billion in 2021, expressed as 2022-adjusted dollars as reported. Fatal-crash costs were estimated at $71 billion in 2019, $69 billion in 2020 and $81 billion in 2021.
Injury-crash costs were estimated at $50 billion in 2019, $42 billion in 2020 and $47 billion in 2021. These figures are comparable only within the stated FMCSA methodology and periods; they do not represent direct insurance payments or a single-company cost ledger.