Trucking Moves the Economy
- Employment: in 2016 the trucking industry in North Dakota provided 32,120 jobs or 1 out of 11 in the state. Total trucking wages paid in ND exceeded $1.6 billion with an average industry salary of $49,778. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported in May 2016 that truck drivers, heavy, tractor-trailer, and light, delivery drivers held 12,210 jobs with a mean annual salary of $53,778.
- Transportation of Essential Products: Trucks transported 70 percent of total manufactured tonnage in the state in 2012 or 42,393 tons per day. Over 46 percent of North Dakota communities depend exclusively on trucks to move their goods.
- Small Business Emphasis: As of April 2016, there were over 3,340 trucking companies located in North Dakota, most of them small, locally owned businesses. These companies are served by a wide range of supporting businesses both large and small.
Trucking Pays the Freight
- As an Industry: In 2016, the trucking industry in North Dakota paid approximately $202 million in federal and state roadway taxes and fees. The industry paid 54 percent of all taxes and fees owed by North Dakota motorists, despite trucks representing only 22 percent of vehicle miles traveled in the state.
- Individual Companies: As of January 2017, a typical five-axle tractor-semitrailer combination paid $4,698 in state highway user fees and taxes in addition to $8,906 in federal user fees and taxes. These taxes were over and above the normal taxes paid by businesses in North Dakota.
- Roadway Use: In 2015, North Dakota had 87,128 miles of public roads over which all motorists traveled 10 billion miles. Trucking’s use of the public roads was 2.2 billion miles.
Safety Matters
- Continually Improving: In 2015 the U.S. large truck fatal crash rate was 1.29 fatal crashes per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This rate has dropped by 71% since the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) began keeping these records in 1975. The 2014 fatal crash rate for the state of North Dakota was 1.23 per 100 million VMT.
- Sharing the Road: The trucking industry is committed to sharing the road safely with all vehicles. The Share the Road program sends a team of professional truck drivers to communities around the country to teach car drivers about truck blind spots, stopping distances and how to merge safely around large trucks, all designed to reduce the number of car-truck accidents.
- Safety First: North Dakota Motor Carriers Association members put safety first through improved driver training, investment in advanced safety technologies and active participation in industry safety initiatives at the local, state and national levels.
Trucks Deliver A Cleaner Tomorrow
- Fuel Consumption: The trucking industry continues to improve energy and environmental efficiency even while increasing the number of miles driven. In 2016, trucks consumed 100 billion fewer gallons of fuel than passenger vehicles in the U.S. and accounted for just 17% of the total highway transportation fuel consumed.
- Emissions: Through advancements in engine technology and fuel refinements, new diesel truck engines produce 98% fewer particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions than a similar engine manufactured before 1990. Sulfur emissions from diesel engines have also been reduced by 97% since 1999.
- Partnerships: Through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) SmartWay Transport Partnership, the trucking industry is working with government and businesses to quantify greenhouse gas emissions and take steps to reduce them.
Information Provided by The American Transportation Research Institute