Heavy trucks are measured through several overlapping categories rather than one universal definition. The following U.S. statistics cover vehicle registrations, freight, road safety, inspections, employment, emissions, travel, and operating context, with periods and scope stated for each measure.
Key Heavy Truck Statistics
The most useful headline figures span the vehicle fleet, freight system, safety record, workforce, and infrastructure context:
- In 2022, 11,083,997 single-unit trucks were registered in the United States.
- In 2022, 3,249,824 combination trucks were registered in the United States.
- In 2022, large trucks traveled 14,333,821 million vehicle-miles in the United States.
- In 2023, U.S. truck shipments totaled an estimated 12,015 million tons.
- In 2024, domestic truck tonnage was estimated at 11.27 billion tons in the United States.
- In 2024, trucking’s freight bill was estimated at $906 billion in the United States.
- In 2024, trucks moved an estimated 72.7% of U.S. freight by weight.
- In 2022, large trucks were involved in 5,279 fatal crashes on U.S. public roads.
- In 2022, an estimated 548,000 nonfatal crashes involved at least one large truck or bus in the United States.
- In 2022, Class 8 trucks were involved in 3,843 fatal crashes in the United States.
- In 2023, 2,909,709 driver inspections were recorded in the United States.
- In 2023, the driver-inspection out-of-service rate was 6.4% in the United States.
- In 2024, trucking employed an estimated 8.4 million people in industry-related jobs in the United States.
- In 2024, the trucking industry employed an estimated 3.58 million professional drivers in the United States.
- In 2024, 798 fatal occupational injuries occurred among heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in the United States.
- In 2024, heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers had median annual pay of $58,640 in the United States.
- In 2022, combination trucks traveled 61,652 million vehicle-miles on U.S. rural interstates.
- In 2023, commercial trucks generated an estimated $30.26 billion in U.S. federal and state fuel taxes.
Contents
- Fleet scale and heavy truck registrations
- Freight tonnage, revenue, and trade
- Heavy truck safety statistics
- Inspections and enforcement data
- Drivers, employment, and occupational outcomes
- Emissions, travel, and fuel-tax context
Fleet Scale and Heavy Truck Registration Statistics
FMCSA’s 2024 Pocket Guide reports 11,083,997 registered single-unit trucks and 3,249,824 registered combination trucks in the United States in 2022. Single-unit and combination categories are useful fleet measures, but they are not identical to every regulatory definition of a heavy truck.
| Vehicle or travel measure | Period | United States value |
|---|---|---|
| Registered single-unit trucks | 2022 | 11,083,997 vehicles |
| Registered combination trucks | 2022 | 3,249,824 vehicles |
| All registered vehicles | 2022 | 283,400,986 vehicles |
| Large-truck travel | 2022 | 14,333,821 million vehicle-miles |
Source: 2024 Pocket Guide to Large Truck and Bus Statistics. The all-vehicle figure includes every vehicle type, while the large-truck travel series follows the guide’s definition.
Large-truck travel in the same FMCSA series was 13,856,404 million vehicle-miles in 2021 and 12,899,371 million vehicle-miles in 2020. Those observations describe vehicle activity, not the number of unique trucks or the average distance per truck.
Heavy Truck Freight Statistics: Tonnage, Revenue, and Trade
Truck freight measures vary by framework. The Freight Analysis Framework, or FAF, is a modeled system built from multiple sources, while ATA reports its own industry estimates and primary-shipment definitions.
| Measure | Period | Value and scope |
|---|---|---|
| Truck shipments within the United States | 2023 | 12,015 million tons, FAF estimate |
| Truck shipments within the United States | 2022 | 11,717 million tons, FAF estimate |
| Truck shipments within the United States | 2021 | 11,780 million tons, FAF estimate |
| Truck shipments within the United States | 2020 | 11,557 million tons, FAF estimate |
| Domestic truck tonnage | 2024 | 11.27 billion tons, ATA primary-shipment estimate |
| Trucking freight bill | 2024 | $906 billion, ATA gross freight-revenue estimate |
Sources: 2024 Pocket Guide to Large Truck and Bus Statistics and Economics and Industry Data. FAF table estimates assign international-gateway flows to multiple modes to avoid double counting, and ATA’s 2024 figures are not heavy-truck-only revenue.
ATA estimated that trucks moved 72.7% of U.S. freight by weight in 2024. In the same year, trucks carried 67% of surface trade between the United States and Canada, while trucks carried 85% of goods across the Mexican border; these trade measures use different definitions and should not be treated as domestic tonnage.
FAF5.7.1 provides a broader modeling structure: it covers 42 commodity types across 132 geographic zones. It reports freight weight in thousands of tons, value in millions of 2017 constant dollars, and activity in millions of ton-miles, which are separate outputs rather than interchangeable measures.
Source: Freight Analysis Framework Version 5 (FAF5).
Heavy Truck Safety Statistics: Fatal and Nonfatal Crashes
FMCSA’s FARS-based large-truck series defines a large truck as a vehicle with gross vehicle weight rating above 10,000 pounds. The series recorded 5,279 fatal crashes involving large trucks in 2022, compared with 5,178 in 2021, 4,423 in 2020, and 4,502 in 2019.
| Safety measure | Period | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Fatal crashes involving large trucks | 2022 | 5,279 |
| Fatal crashes involving large trucks | 2021 | 5,178 |
| Fatal crashes involving large trucks | 2020 | 4,423 |
| Fatal crashes involving large trucks | 2019 | 4,502 |
| Large-truck-and-bus share of all fatal crashes | 2022 | 14.0% of 39,221 |
Source: 2024 Pocket Guide to Large Truck and Bus Statistics. The 14.0% measure combines large trucks and buses, so it is not a large-truck-only share.
For nonfatal crashes, the 2022 CRSS-based estimate was 548,000 crashes involving at least one large truck or bus. That combined category represented 9.30% of an estimated 5,892,000 nonfatal crashes, and the values are rounded survey estimates rather than a fatal-crash census.
Truck weight class also matters. In 2022, Class 8 trucks, defined in the table as above 33,000 pounds GVWR, were involved in 3,843 fatal crashes; Class 7 trucks, at 26,001–33,000 pounds, were involved in 300; and Class 6 trucks, at 19,501–26,000 pounds, were involved in 406.
Heavy Truck Inspection and Enforcement Data
MCMIS recorded 2,909,709 driver inspections in the United States in 2023. The driver-inspection out-of-service rate was 6.4% in 2023, compared with 6.9% in 2022; this rate concerns inspections with an out-of-service violation, not crash probability.
- Level I full inspections numbered 839,638 in 2023.
- Level II walk-around inspections numbered 1,057,511 in 2023.
- Level I inspections with an out-of-service violation numbered 231,130 in 2023.
- Level II inspections with an out-of-service violation numbered 290,081 in 2023.
The inspection counts are inspection events, not unique drivers, and an inspection can contain more than one violation. Source: 2024 Pocket Guide to Large Truck and Bus Statistics.
FMCSA recorded 12,329 carrier investigations in 2023. Very small carriers with 1–6 power units accounted for 6,999 investigations, while carriers with more than 100 power units accounted for 412 investigations.
Closed enforcement cases totaled 3,831 in 2023, with $26,721,979 settled. In the MCMIS definition, a closed case means a penalty paid, settlement, default, or adjudicated liability, so the total is not a measure of every inspection or every violation.
Heavy Truck Driver and Industry Employment Statistics
ATA estimated 8.4 million people in trucking industry-related jobs in 2024, including an estimated 3.58 million professional drivers. These broad industry measures differ from BLS occupational and industry-specific counts.
BLS OEWS counted 892,450 heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in truck transportation in May 2024. The same occupation appeared in other industries, including 268,970 drivers in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction and 76,570 in nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing.
| Employment or outcome measure | Period | U.S. figure |
|---|---|---|
| Trucking industry-related employment | 2024 | 8.4 million people, ATA estimate |
| Professional drivers | 2024 | 3.58 million people, ATA estimate |
| Heavy and tractor-trailer drivers in truck transportation | May 2024 | 892,450 workers |
| Heavy and tractor-trailer drivers in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction | May 2024 | 268,970 workers |
| Heavy and tractor-trailer drivers in nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing | May 2024 | 76,570 workers |
| Fatal occupational injuries among heavy and tractor-trailer drivers | 2024 | 798 injuries |
Sources: Economics and Industry Data, OEWS Industry Employment Chart, May 2024, and Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 2024 A01 Results. The 798 CFOI events are fatal work injuries, not all roadway fatalities involving trucks.
BLS reported median annual pay of $58,640 for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers using May 2024 wage data. Its outlook profile lists 2,221,200 jobs for the occupation using the 2024 employment base and projects 4% employment growth from 2025 to 2035; that projection is a forecast, not an observed outcome.
Source: Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers: Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Heavy Truck Emissions, Travel, and Fuel-Tax Context
EPA’s report-level comparison found that heavy-duty vehicle activity contributes 35% more particulate-matter emissions per year than light-duty vehicles in the United States. The comparison is annual heavy-duty versus light-duty activity, not a per-truck emissions rate.
The same EPA report summary states that policies had reduced heavy-duty vehicle particulate-matter and nitrogen-oxide emissions by 90% on a per-vehicle basis. That historical per-vehicle reduction does not mean total fleet emissions fell by 90%.
Sources: Analysis of Heavy-Duty Vehicle Sales Impacts Due to New Regulation and EPA Heavy-Duty Engine Criteria Pollutant Compliance Reports.
FHWA reported the following rural-interstate travel by vehicle class:
| Vehicle class | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Combination trucks | 58,575 million vehicle-miles | 61,652 million vehicle-miles |
| Single-unit trucks | 11,389 million vehicle-miles | 11,677 million vehicle-miles |
Source: Table VM-1 – Highway Statistics 2022. These are rural-interstate vehicle-miles, and combination or single-unit trucks are classes rather than every possible heavy-truck definition.
The United States collected an estimated $30.26 billion in federal and state fuel taxes from commercial trucks in 2023. The average state diesel fuel tax was 31.8 cents per gallon in 2023, while the federal diesel fuel tax was 24.4 cents per gallon as of January 2025; the per-gallon rates are not annual tax totals.
Source: Economics and Industry Data.
Definitions matter throughout these statistics: FMCSA’s FARS large-truck definition uses GVWR above 10,000 pounds, Class 8 begins above 33,000 pounds GVWR, and MCMIS can include certain hazardous-material vehicles regardless of weight. FARS is a fatal-crash census, CRSS produces rounded nonfatal and property-damage estimates, MCMIS crash data can remain preliminary for 22 months, FAF is modeled, ATA uses industry definitions, and BLS separates the occupation from the truck-transportation industry.