We hope you had a safe and happy holiday weekend and that you were able to spend some quality time with family and friends. It's hard to believe the year is almost over. Time sure flies!
Did you know we just celebrated our twelfth anniversary? That's right, we've been helping drivers and companies come together for twelve years. Did we already say time sure flies?
Last issue we quoted some numbers about the trucking industry which spurred this question from one of our loyal readers. (Actually, we don't know if David is a loyal reader or not, but we always liked the sound of that phrase.)
From: DH
Sent: Saturday, November 15, 2008 8:59 AM
To: jobs@truckdriver.com
Subject: statistics
Hi, I just read the numbers from this newsletter and was wondering about the 3.5 million truck drivers.
Is that the number who currently hold a class A CDL? Or the actual number of drivers driving?
How many class 8 trucks are there registered around the lower 48? How many on the road?
Thanks
David
Thanks for the inquiry, David. We did a little research and found this at The Bureau of Labor Statistics :
Truck drivers and driver/sales workers held about 3.4 million jobs in 2006. Of these workers, 445,000 were driver/sales workers and 2.9 million were truck drivers. Most truck drivers find employment in large metropolitan areas or along major interstate roadways where trucking, retail, and wholesale companies tend to have their distribution outlets. Some drivers work in rural areas, providing specialized services such as delivering newspapers to customers.
The truck transportation industry employed 26 percent of all truck drivers and driver/sales workers in the United States. Another 25 percent worked for companies engaged in wholesale or retail trade. The remaining truck drivers and driver/sales workers were distributed across many industries, including construction and manufacturing.
And this at the FMCSA :
Over 8 million drivers have passed the knowledge and skills tests and obtained a CDL.
And this at the FHWA :
In 2000, the United States had over 7.0 million medium and heavy
duty trucks registered (trucks with a gross vehicle weight over 26,000
pounds). There are currently one-fifth more medium and heavy trucks on
the road than in 1995. California and Texas have the most heavy trucks
registered, followed by Illinois, Ohio and Florida.
In 2000 there were 85,578,504 total trucks (all classes) registered
in the United States, an increase of 3.6% from 1999."
And after that, we got tired of looking and started watching videos on YouTube . After all, it is the holiday weekend.
Last issue we offered up the The TruckDriver.com Giving Thanks Survey.
Here are the stats on that:
My family - 73%
My friends - 3%
My good health - 13%
My job - 4%
My country - 4%
My church - 3%
People always say, 'Family comes first', and that's what you said.
After we went to press last issue, (not sure that going to press is the right term in the 21st century world of electronic media) somebody mentioned we should have added a choice about the economy or money, which turned into a long bull session about whether 'My job' qualified as being about the economy and/or money. That only started a longer bull session about the economy.
So, this issue we are offering up the The TruckDriver.com Stupid Economy Survey.
And, since we are entering the holiday season we'll tie the two together and see how the economy is going to impact your holiday spirit.
Until next time, keep on truckin' and please drive safely.
Your Comments Are Always Welcome
We do like to hear from you and invite you to let us know how we can improve the e-Report. Please send your ideas and suggestions to: jobs@truckdriver.com
