ATA predicts manufacturing, other areas to fuel steady trucking growth through 2028

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The trucking industry is set to be a trillion dollar industry by 2024, according to a forecast released Wednesday by the American Trucking Associations.

Industry revenue is expected to keep growing annually by 5.4 percent between 2018 and 2023, according to the American Trucking Association’s 2017-2028 Freight Transportation Forecast report, then top $1 trillion by 2024. Growth is then expected to slow to 4.7 percent through 2028, with motor carrier revenue expected to total $1.24 trillion by the end of that year. Growth in the industry will driven by manufacturing, consumer spending and international trade.

The annual report from ATA provides an outlook as to what the industry can expect to see in terms of tonnage and revenue over the next 12 years. ATA builds its freight and revenue forecast by using data from several sources, including proprietary data and data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Energy Information Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics Commodity Flow Survey, ENO Transportation, and IHS Energy, among others.

For-hire carrier revenue fell 3.8 percent to $368 billion in 2016, but it is expected to increase to 5.4 percent annually between 2018-2023, to $538 billion. For-hire carrier revenue should hit $679 billion by 2028, according to the report.

Truckload carrier revenue is forecasted to reach $454 billion by 2023 and $568 billion by 2028. It will experience an average annual increase of 5.4 percent in 2018-2023 and 4.7 percent in 2024-2028.

The full 2017-2028 Freight Transportation Forecast report is available for purchase from ATA online.