Of all of the methods of shipping goods — planes, trains, boats, and trucks — trucks are the most used, moving more than $66 billion of freight annually. The second most used is railroads, but trains move less than a 4th of the freight that trucks do.
All in all, trucks move more than 60% of all freight in America.
But what types of products are they moving? In this article, we’ll take a look at 5 of the most common freight items that are moved by both trucks and other methods, with a focus on trucking of course.
- Vehicles
Have you ever seen those trucks on the highway that have 8, 9, or even 10 cars loaded onto them?
From a per captia standpoint, this is one of the largest industries that trucks help to support and grow.
Most trucks are assembled at one of the 71 shipping plants in North America, and from there they are shipped across the countries to various dealerships — on trucks. Automotive make up an $82 billion industry, and it’s truckers that keep it going.
- Produce
You’ve heard it a million times: peaches from Georgia, oranges from Florida, corn from Iowa, cacti? From Arizona?
The point is, produce is coming to you from all over the country all the time.
This is one of the largest industries in the entire country, being worth more than $104 billion annually. It’s also powered by trucks and truck drivers.
- Building Materials
Of all the industries that we’re going to touch on in this article, the sheer size of the building materials industry struck me the most.
This industry is worth nearly $1 TRILLION (globally), and it’s only going to keep growing over the next decade.
Sure, I knew that building materials were expensive, but I had no idea that they’re actually one of the largest industries in the entire country — and the world.
If you think about it, however, this makes sense, because cities, towns, and businesses are always building stuff, and there’s really no end in sight. I’m really curious to see how this industry progresses over the next decade with the increase of automation and new technology.
- Paper Products
I can guess what you’re thinking: isn’t the need for paper drastically decreasing?
Though in theory, it seems like there is very little use for paper, the paper industry is still massive, and it’s largely powered and kept functional by the labor of truckers.
Globally, this industry is worth more than $275 billion, and nationally it’s worth more than $4 billion. Most importantly, this industry is growing, not shrinking.
Sure, the figures aren’t up there with the automotive and produce industries, but paper goods are still a massive industry that isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
- Textiles
Another one of the largest industries supported by trucks is textiles. Whether it’s winter jackets, sneakers, or those denim jeans you love, they’ve probably spent some time on a truck before they made their way to the store you bought them at.
Nationally, this industry is worth $70 billion and it’s only growing. As long as there are people, there is going to be a textile industry.
The textile industry has literally been around since the dawn of man, and though cavemen didn’t have the same fashion sense we do, even they had clothes.
Closing Thoughts
Truckers are the backbone of America’s shipping industry. Most of the shipping is done by trucking, and too often, their work goes unnoticed.
One of the biggest goals we have with these blog posts is to bring awareness to just how important the trucking industry is, and how without it, countless other industries in America wouldn’t be able to function.
A few of the other large industries supported by truckers are tech products, hazardous materials, and toys and games. So many of the physical products we have are shipped by truckers, and they’re not going away with automation or technology. Trucking is here to stay.
