Truck tires connect freight efficiency, fleet maintenance, road safety and material recovery. The statistics below distinguish truck-and-bus shipments, commercial tires, combination trucks, light trucks and broader tire populations, while identifying forecasts, estimates and historical surveys.
Key Truck Tire Statistics
The most useful headline figures span market activity, operating performance and end-of-life management:
- 337.4 million total U.S. tire shipments were forecast for 2024, compared with 331.9 million in 2023 and 332.7 million in 2019.
- 6.218 million U.S. truck-and-bus original-equipment tires shipped in 2023, down 4.1% from 2022.
- 20.777 million U.S. truck-and-bus replacement tires shipped in 2023, down 22.0% from 2022.
- 28.938 million total U.S. truck-and-bus tires shipped in 2023, including original equipment, replacement and USTMA-member exports.
- Nearly 44% of commercial truck tires in the United States and Canada were estimated to be retreads, according to a 2024 industry addendum.
- Nearly 90% of U.S. fleets with at least 100 trucks were estimated to rely on retreaded tires in the cited industry estimate.
- U.S. truck and bus fleets retreaded each tire 2 to 3 times on average, according to the cited estimate.
- Retreading was estimated to save nearly $3 billion annually in the U.S. tire and fleet economy.
- Low-rolling-resistance tires could improve long-haul combination-truck fuel economy by 2% to 5% in tests summarized by EPA.
- EPA estimated more than 500 gallons of annual fuel savings per combination long-haul truck in its low-rolling-resistance scenario.
- Tire rolling resistance accounted for nearly 13% of combination-truck energy use in an EPA technical estimate.
- Fewer than 50% of commercial-truck tires on U.S. highways were estimated to be at target pressure in a 2015 DOE success story.
- Correcting tire inflation was estimated to improve commercial-trucking fuel economy by 2% to 3% in the same DOE source.
- 511 U.S. road deaths occurred in tire-related crashes in 2024, according to NHTSA.
- 37 million commercial tires reached estimated end of life in the United States in 2023.
- 79% of U.S. end-of-life tires went to beneficial end-use markets in 2023, according to USTMA accounting.
- Commercial tires represented 12.3% of U.S. end-of-life tires in 2023, including medium, wide-base and heavy-truck categories and scrapped trucks and buses.
Contents
- Truck tire shipment statistics and market trends
- Truck tire replacement and retread statistics
- Truck tire rolling resistance and fuel economy data
- Truck tire pressure and maintenance measurements
- Truck tire safety and crash statistics
- Truck tire materials, recycling and fleet adoption
Truck Tire Shipment Statistics and Market Trends
USTMA’s shipment system covers passenger, light-truck and truck-and-bus tires, and estimates nonmember activity; members represent nearly 80% of the U.S. tire market. These figures describe industry shipments, not the active truck fleet or the number of installed tires.
| U.S. truck-and-bus shipment category | 2022 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original equipment | 6.487 million | 6.218 million | -4.1% |
| Replacement | 26.652 million | 20.777 million | -22.0% |
| USTMA-member exports | 2.026 million | 1.944 million | -4.0% |
| Total | 35.164 million | 28.938 million | -17.7% |
Source: 2023 U.S. Tire Industry Activity Summary. The total combines the three listed channels, and exports are reported by USTMA members.
Truck-and-bus radial shipments fell from 35.021 million in 2022 to 28.831 million in 2023, also a 17.7% decline. For 2024, USTMA forecast truck-tire original-equipment shipments down 5.0% and replacement shipments up 8.9% versus 2023.
USTMA’s July 2024 forecast put total U.S. tire shipments at 337.4 million units in 2024, versus 331.9 million in 2023 and 332.7 million in 2019. The forecast also exceeded the prior 2021 record of 335.2 million units, but it was not a final shipment count.
See USTMA July 2024 Forecast Predicts Higher 2024 Tire Shipments for U.S. Tire Market.
Truck Tire Replacement and Retread Statistics
Retreading is a major commercial-tire strategy, but the available measures are industry estimates rather than a complete census. The population is also specific: commercial truck tires and fleets, not every tire sold in the United States.
- About 15 million tires were estimated to be retreaded annually in the United States in the 2024 USTMA addendum.
- Nearly 44% of commercial truck tires in the United States and Canada were estimated to be retreads.
- Nearly 90% of U.S. fleets with 100 or more trucks were estimated to rely on retreaded tires.
- U.S. truck and bus fleets were estimated to retread each tire 2 to 3 times on average.
- Retreaded truck tires are designed for up to three retreads and can extend tire life by 300% or more; this is a stated capability, not a guaranteed field result.
The economic and material comparisons are similarly specific. Retreading was estimated to generate nearly $3 billion in annual cost savings, reduce energy use by about 30% compared with producing a new tire, and save approximately 15 gallons of oil per retreaded truck tire.
A typical retread commercial tire was estimated to save about 90 to 100 pounds of material. These comparisons vary with casing, process and lifecycle boundary, and the oil figure is an NHTSA estimate rather than a current price measure.
Source for these estimates: Retread in Focus: The Facts. USTMA also estimated that the number of U.S. retreading facilities declined from more than 3,000 in 1982 to about 500 in 2023; facility count does not measure production capacity.
Truck Tire Rolling Resistance and Fuel Economy Data
Rolling resistance is an operating-cost measure rather than a universal fixed percentage. EPA and DOE present different technical denominators, so their figures should not be combined as though they measured the same quantity.
| Measure | Finding | Population and qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Energy use associated with rolling resistance | Nearly 13% | Combination trucks; EPA technical estimate |
| Fuel-economy improvement | 2%–5% | Long-haul combination trucks; tests summarized by EPA |
| Annual fuel savings | More than 500 gallons | EPA modeled combination long-haul truck |
| Annual fuel-cost savings | $1,455 | EPA new combination-truck scenario |
| Annual CO2 reduction | More than 5 metric tons | EPA combination long-haul truck scenario |
Source: Low Rolling Resistance Tires: A Glance at Clean Freight Strategies. EPA’s scenario used a 3% or higher reduction in fuel consumption, and its cost result depends on fuel-price and operating assumptions.
DOE summarized research indicating that a 20% reduction in rolling resistance could reduce fuel consumption by 4.8% to 6.6% in bus and truck applications. The same DOE material framed tire rolling resistance as 24% to 33% of total fuel consumption, while tread energy loss contributed 35% to 50% of total tire rolling resistance.
Those DOE figures are research summaries and technical framing, not tire-label measurements or universal fleet outcomes. See Advanced Bus and Truck Radial Materials for Fuel.
Truck Tire Pressure and Maintenance Measurements
Pressure evidence includes older surveys and newer technical estimates, so dates matter. The FHWA surveys measured hot pressure, while recommended inflation values were generally discussed as cold pressure.
| Survey or estimate | Result | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| FHWA nationwide survey, 1987 | 81% between 85 and 115 psi | 5,040 measured hot truck-tire pressures |
| FHWA nationwide survey, 1987 | 11% overinflated; 19% underinflated | Survey-defined thresholds |
| Wisconsin survey, 1987 | 93% between 85 and 115 psi | 6,780 measured hot truck tires |
| Wisconsin survey, 1987 | About 100 psi average | Hot truck-tire pressure |
| Multi-state surveys, 1985–1986 | 96–107 psi average | More than 4,000 trucks in Canada and six U.S. jurisdictions |
Source: Technical Paper 89-001 – Tire Pressure. In Wisconsin, 12% of tractor-semitrailer tires were overinflated and 14% underinflated, under the survey definitions.
FHWA reported recommended cold inflation pressures of 95 to 100 psi for about 75% of truck tires then sold, based on manufacturer contacts. That historical estimate is not a current specification census.
A 2015 DOE success story estimated that fewer than 50% of commercial-truck tires on U.S. highways were at target pressure and said correcting inflation could improve vehicle fuel economy by 2% to 3%. The estimate did not describe a probability sample on the page; see EERE Success Story—Goodyear Testing Self-Inflating Tire Systems in U.S. Trucking Fleets.
Truck Tire Safety and Crash Statistics
The strongest current safety figure is broader than heavy trucks: NHTSA recorded 511 road deaths in tire-related crashes in 2024 across U.S. motor-vehicle traffic. It should not be treated as a truck-only fatality count; see Tire Safety Ratings and Awareness.
Historical NHTSA analysis provides additional context for tire-related crash mechanisms, but its population was U.S. light-vehicle tow-away crashes from 1995 through 1998. The specified blowout or flat-tire problems appeared in 0.51% of light-vehicle crashes and 4.81% of rollover crashes.
| Vehicle group | All specified crashes | Rollover crashes |
|---|---|---|
| Light trucks | 0.99% | 6.88% |
| Passenger cars | 0.31% | 1.87% |
Source: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Tire Safety Information. Light trucks include pickups, vans and SUVs, and are not commercial heavy trucks.
FHWA also noted that truck radial tire pressures are approximately 5 psi higher than bias-ply pressures for the same wheel load. This is an engineering comparison, not a fleet average, and tire pressure remains dependent on tire type, load and operating conditions.
Truck Tire Materials, Recycling and Fleet Adoption
USTMA estimated that 37 million commercial tires reached end of life in the United States in 2023. Commercial tires represented 12.3% of U.S. end-of-life tires, and the category included medium, wide-base and heavy-truck replacement tires plus scrapped trucks and buses.
| 2023 USTMA end-of-life category | Tires | Share or weight |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial tires | 37 million | 12.3% of U.S. ELTs; 120-pound average |
| Medium, wide-base and heavy-truck replacement tires | 21 million | 6.8% of U.S. ELTs |
| Tires from scrapped trucks and buses | 17 million | 5.4% of U.S. ELTs |
| Commercial end-of-life tires | — | 2,238 thousand tons |
Source: USTMA’s 2023 End-of-Life Tire Management Report. The replacement-tire category is narrower than all commercial end-of-life tires, and scrapped-vehicle tires are not replacement demand.
USTMA estimated that 304 million total tires were hauled into the 2023 U.S. end-of-life system, including 40 million used tires culled and 264 million net scrap tires. Hauled, culled and net scrap are distinct flow measures, not interchangeable counts.
In end-use accounting, 79% of U.S. end-of-life tires went to beneficial end-use markets in 2023, while ground rubber consumed about 28%. Beneficial end use is not identical to material recycling; see 2023 ELT Tire Report Page.
USTMA reported that rubber-modified asphalt had consumed 165,000 tons of end-of-life tires since 2021, a 17% increase. The figure is cumulative since 2021, not consumption during 2023 alone.
Finally, USTMA stated that foreign low-cost tires were 65% less likely to be retreaded than domestic or premium alternatives in the cited industry comparison. That estimate reflects differences in product design and construction, so it should not be read as a universal failure rate or a direct measure of fleet adoption.