Trucking industry in the U.S.

The trucking industry refers to the use of road transportation, such as semi-trailers and light trucks, to move goods across overland routes. Most commonly goods are transported from manufacturing plants to retail distribution centers, but there are other common uses such as the transportation of building materials and waste in the construction industry. Trucking is responsible for most of the overland freight movement in the United States, with the market being worth 791.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2019. At that time, there were over 947,000 truck drivers employed in the U.S., which is less than the industry requires. Owing to this driver shortage, driver costs are the biggest challenge faced by the industry. Broadly speaking, the U.S. trucking industry can be divided into three main sectors: full truckload (FTL), less-than-truckload (LTL), and couriers.