Diesel trucks sit at the center of U.S. freight movement, highway use and trucking employment, but many official datasets classify vehicles by size or operation rather than fuel. The figures below therefore distinguish diesel-specific fuel data from broader truck, heavy-duty vehicle and occupation measures.
Key Diesel Truck Statistics
These highlights summarize the most useful measures across freight, roads, emissions, safety, work and fleet transition:
- In 2023, truck mode carried 12,701 million tons of U.S. freight in the Freight Analysis Framework estimate.
- In 2022, combination trucks traveled 61,652 million vehicle-miles on U.S. rural interstates.
- In 2023, diesel fuel combustion produced 455 million metric tons of U.S. energy-related CO2.
- In 2023, diesel fuel represented about 9% of total U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions.
- In 2023, motor gasoline and diesel together produced 1,489 million metric tons of transportation-sector CO2.
- In 2023, motor gasoline and diesel represented about 80% of transportation-sector CO2 emissions.
- In 2022, large trucks or buses were involved in 5,476 fatal U.S. roadway crashes.
- In 2022, large trucks or buses were involved in an estimated 548,000 nonfatal U.S. roadway crashes.
- In May 2024, the United States had 2,070,480 heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers.
- In May 2024, heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers had a mean annual wage of $58,400.
- In model year 2023, state fleets acquired 1,128 medium- and heavy-duty creditable vehicles under the covered program.
- In model year 2023, alternative-fuel-provider fleets acquired 1,309 medium- and heavy-duty creditable vehicles under the covered program.
- In model year 2023, electric vehicle models represented nearly 30% of total program vehicle acquisitions in covered fleets.
- From model year 2022 to 2023, electric vehicle models increased 89% in the covered-fleet program.
- Beginning in model year 2027, EPA’s heavy-duty criteria-pollutant standards are more than 80% stronger than current standards.
- For 2027–2055, EPA projected the heavy-duty rule would avoid 1 billion tons of greenhouse-gas emissions.
Contents
- Key Diesel Truck Statistics
- Diesel Truck Freight Statistics and Movement
- Diesel Truck Highway-Use Data
- Diesel Fuel Emissions and Heavy-Duty Climate Statistics
- Diesel Truck Safety and Crash Statistics
- Diesel Truck Workforce and Operating Economics
- Diesel Fleet Transition and Regulation Trends
Diesel Truck Freight Statistics and Movement
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ Freight Analysis Framework (FAF 5.6.1) estimates that truck mode carried 12,701 million tons of U.S. freight in 2023. The comparable 2019 table value was 11,768 million tons, but BTS warns that the framework update means the two editions are not directly comparable without accounting for that change.
Freight Weight in Millions of Tons by Mode: 2019 and 2023 provides the table and its scope notes.
| FAF mode | 2019 | 2023 | Unit and scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Truck | 11,768 | 12,701 | Million tons, U.S. freight flows |
| Multiple modes and mail | 2,529 | 2,812 | Million tons; multimodal, not diesel-only |
| Rail | — | 1,664 | Million tons, contextual comparison |
| Water | — | 1,226 | Million tons, contextual comparison |
| Pipeline | — | 1,682 | Million tons, contextual comparison |
| Air | — | 16 | Million tons, contextual comparison |
The multimodal category is important because FAF assigns shipments involving more than one mode to “Multiple Modes and Mail” to avoid double counting. Rail, water, pipeline and air values provide context, not measures of diesel-truck freight.
Diesel Truck Highway-Use Data
FHWA’s Highway Statistics 2022 reports vehicle miles by vehicle class and road type, rather than by fuel. Combination and single-unit trucks are therefore broad heavy-truck indicators, not diesel-only counts.
Table VM-1 – Highway Statistics 2022 reports these U.S. vehicle-mile estimates and notes that 2022 VMT uses the latest HPMS data.
| Vehicle class and road | 2021 | 2022 | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Combination trucks, rural interstates | 58,575 | 61,652 | Million vehicle-miles |
| Single-unit trucks, rural interstates | 11,389 | 11,677 | Million vehicle-miles |
| Combination trucks, other rural arterials | 32,860 | 33,364 | Million vehicle-miles |
| Single-unit trucks, other rural arterials | 19,381 | 19,332 | Million vehicle-miles |
For scale, light-duty long-wheelbase vehicles traveled 50,143 million vehicle-miles on rural interstates in 2022, while all motor vehicles traveled 274,993 million there. Those denominators are contextual and should not be treated as diesel-truck totals.
Diesel Fuel Emissions and Heavy-Duty Climate Statistics
The Energy Information Administration estimated that diesel fuel consumption produced 455 million metric tons of U.S. energy-related CO2 in 2023, equal to about 9% of the national total. This is a fuel-combustion measure covering transportation-sector diesel and is not limited to trucks.
EIA: How much carbon dioxide is produced from U.S. gasoline and diesel fuel consumption? reports that motor gasoline and diesel together produced 1,489 million metric tons of transportation-sector CO2, about 31% of total U.S. energy-related CO2 and about 80% of transportation-sector CO2 in 2023. The 2023 figures were preliminary, and EIA’s convention excludes combustion CO2 from biofuels.
EPA says heavy-duty trucks, buses and tractor-trailers make up less than 10% of vehicles on the road, although that grouped measure is not diesel-only. EPA also identified 72 million U.S. residents living near truck freight routes in its 2024 rule announcement; that is a population-near-routes estimate, not an exposure or health-outcome count.
For the heavy-duty greenhouse-gas standards, EPA projected 1 billion tons of avoided greenhouse-gas emissions over 2027–2055 and $13 billion in annualized net societal benefits. EPA also estimated that a heavy-duty truck purchaser in 2032 could save $3,700 to $10,500 per vehicle per year on fuel and maintenance, depending on vehicle type; these are forecasts, not observed outcomes.
Final EPA Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles to Slash Dangerous Pollution and Biden-Harris Administration Finalizes Strongest Ever Greenhouse Gas Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles provide the regulatory context and projections.
Diesel Truck Safety and Crash Statistics
Federal crash datasets generally group large trucks and buses, so they do not isolate diesel powertrains. In 2022, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration recorded 39,221 fatal crashes on U.S. roads, with large trucks or buses involved in 5,476, or 14.0% of fatal roadway crashes.
2024 Pocket Guide to Large Truck and Bus Statistics is the source for these FARS results.
The same guide’s CRSS national sample estimated 5,892,000 nonfatal U.S. roadway crashes in 2022. Large trucks or buses were involved in an estimated 548,000 of those crashes, or 9.30%; the estimate is rounded to the nearest 1,000 and the percentage uses unrounded data.
Comparisons over time require care because the FARS vehicle classification revision in 2016 reclassified 329 light pickup trucks as large trucks. The Pocket Guide also distinguishes preliminary MCMIS information from the observed FARS and estimated CRSS measures.
Diesel Truck Workforce and Operating Economics
Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data describe occupations and industries, not diesel-only employment. Still, they show the scale of the workforce supporting heavy trucking.
Occupational Employment and Wages – May 2024 reports 2,070,480 heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in the United States in May 2024. Their mean hourly wage was $28.08, mean annual wage was $58,400, and median hourly wage was $27.62.
| BLS measure, May 2024 | Result | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers | 2,070,480 | U.S. employed people |
| Mean hourly wage | $28.08 | U.S. dollars per hour |
| Median hourly wage | $27.62 | U.S. dollars per hour |
| Mean annual wage | $58,400 | U.S. dollars per year |
| Truck-transportation heavy and tractor-trailer drivers | 892,450 | Industry-by-occupation count |
| Truck transportation bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists | 57,300 | Industry-by-occupation count |
The broader driver/sales-worker and truck-driver group numbered 3,482,310, while light truck drivers numbered 994,410. These categories include vehicles without a diesel-powertrain restriction and should not be added to the heavy-driver count as though they measured the same population.
Diesel Fleet Transition and Regulation Trends
The U.S. Department of Energy’s State and Alternative Fuel Provider Fleet Program annual report covers participating fleets, not the entire truck market. In model year 2023, state fleets acquired 1,128 medium- and heavy-duty creditable vehicles, while alternative-fuel-provider fleets acquired 1,309.
State and Alternative Fuel Provider Fleet Program, Model Year 2023 Annual Report reports that covered fleets acquired 7,012 alternative-fuel vehicles among 9,334 creditable light-duty acquisitions. Hybrid-electric vehicles represented 17% of covered-fleet acquisitions, while electric vehicle models represented nearly 30% of total program vehicle acquisitions and increased 89% from model year 2022 to 2023.
E85 flexible-fuel vehicles represented about 50% of program acquisitions in model year 2023, down from 90% in earlier years; the report attributes part of the decline to model availability. Covered fleets spent just under $31.5 million on public and nonpublic alternative-fuel infrastructure, earning 285 program credits.
EPA’s model-year 2027 heavy-duty criteria-pollutant standards are characterized as more than 80% stronger than current standards. The rule increases the useful life of governed vehicles by 1.5 to 2.5 times and makes emissions warranties 2.8 to 4.5 times longer, with the ranges varying by vehicle, engine category and component.
EPA’s Phase 3 greenhouse-gas standards apply to model years 2027 through 2032, with stricter requirements for 2028–2032. Covered vocational vehicles include delivery, refuse and utility trucks, as well as day-cab and sleeper-cab tractors; these are covered categories, not a count of diesel trucks.
Final EPA Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles to Slash Dangerous Pollution and Biden-Harris Administration Finalizes Strongest Ever Greenhouse Gas Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles describe the standards and their forecast effects.