A shout out to all clients involved in the trucking industry and the crucial role they play in our economy.
A critical component of the economy proving fluid movement between companies and consumers are logistics and shipping services provided by the trucking industry. Trucks provide some of the most ample delivery logistics in the country, delivering packages and goods from Alaska to Florida spanning over 164,000 miles of highways nationwide.
There are over 1 million trucking companies spanning the country, from California and Hawaii to Alaska and Florida, transporting everything imaginable from food and milk to gasoline, cars and mail.
As a vital component of the labor market, the trucking industry employs roughly 7.3 million people, with 3.5 million of them as truck drivers. Economic growth also creates more shipping activity throughout the country, as companies ship products to other businesses and consumers.
The Federal Reserve carefully tracks the amount of cargo shipped by trucks, viewed as a gauge of economic activity throughout the nation. Data is compiled as the Truck Tonnage Index, representing all shipments via trucks in the country. The index has been steadily increasing over the past 18 months, reaching a high of 149.3 in January 2018.
Kent G. Forsey, CFP®
President
Sources: trucking.org, Dept. of Transportation, Federal Reserve, OneBlueWindow, LLC.