I found these facts on the OOIDA Media page and decided to post them here:
- There is no shortage of truck drivers in the United States. The Department of Transportation registers more than 40,000 commercial drivers licenses per month.
- Owner-operators are small business people who own, maintain and drive their own commercial motor vehicles.
- Ninety percent of the trucking industry is made up of small business trucking companies with ten or less trucks.
- There is currently no training required to obtain a commercial drivers license. The FMCSA has a proposed ruling that has not yet been implemented that would require a minimum of 44 hours of behind the wheel training.
- There are approximately 350,000 owner-operators in the United States.
- Our members earn on average about $40,000 per year after taxes and other fees.
- Even though they make up only 7 percent of highway traffic, truckers collectively pay about 36 percent of the taxes and fees that go into the Highway Trust Fund.
- On average, small business truckers drive more than 115,000 miles per year (more than 3 million miles in their lifetime) and spend more than 240 nights per year away from home.
- Most of our membership is made up of men and women with more than 20 years experience driving a long haul truck.
- Owner-operators are involved in fewer and less severe accidents than any other segment of the truck driving population
- Owner-operators work either on a per load contractual basis or by leasing their truck and driving services for a motor carrier. They transport virtually every type commodity that moves in commerce, particularly those that require special handling.
- Truckers typically pay in excess of $10,000 in federal taxes and additional state taxes of more than $6,000 per truck each year.
- OOIDA represents more truck drivers and more trucking companies than any other association in the industry.
