One of the most common job titles in 29 states is truck driving! Yes, it is true, there are more truck drivers than any other types of workers in more than half of the nation. It is a very common position to be at that offers lots of freedom and is great to meet new people because there are a lot of people with the most diverse backgrounds in this field.
- Over 8 million people in the United States are employed in some capacity by the truck driving industry. It really is a common position!
- Thanks to clean diesel technology, 60 modern-day trucks put out the equivalent emission of a single truck from 1988.
- The primary cause of trucking accidents is failure to stay in the lane.
- Not even one of the regulators charged with overseeing the trucking industry was ever a truck driver. All of the administrators at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration who are charged with managing the law and regulations for the truck drivers do not have a trucking background.
- The average truck driver is 49 years old. This career really accepts a good driver from any age.
- Trucking goes all the way back to 1896 when Gottlieb Daimler, a German company, created the first functioning truck-based automobile.
- Most grocery stores would run out of food in just three days if long-haul truckers stopped driving. This might seem unbelievable considering that all the shelves in the stores are full and ready for whenever you need them. However, if we look at the pandemic times, we needed to add unlimited working hours for truck drivers just to supply us with the right produce!
- Trucks need 40% more time to stop than cars because of the their bigger weight.
- Women compose 7% of all truck drivers in the United States.
- Commercial over-the-road trucks are meant to have a much longer lifespan. They are designed to travel more than a million miles, while car engines are expected to go just 200,000 miles before being considered “too used up”.
- Despite their longer-than-average time on the road, truckers get in three times fewer accidents than non-commercial drivers.
- Trucks move more than 70% of all merchandise transported around the United States, which is by far more than what trains, boats, and planes transport around the country.
- Trucks move more than 70% of all merchandise transported around the United States, which is by far more than what trains, boats, and planes transport around the country.
- If you are alongside a truck and you can’t see the driver’s face in the mirror, it means the driver can’t see your car.
- Do you know how much gas a commercial truck consumes a year? About 20,500 gallons!! This is a huge amount compared to the fact that an American on average spends 656 gallons a year.
- Truck drivers often feel lonely so 40% of truck drivers take their pets with them on a trip.
- The trucking industry holds more than 40% of minorities, while the national average is 22%. This can be because trucking does not require knowing language as much as other jobs might need.