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trucking facts, international

5 mind-blowing facts about the trucking industry

The trucking industry has given jobs to over 3.5 million truckers. According to the ATA, the industry itself employs a total of eight million employees. That includes truckers, dispatchers, and office workers for the industry. For those who struggle with math, that’s over 2% of jobs across the United States.

You’ve heard it before and you’ll hear it again – trucking moves America.

As a result of the sheer volume of truckers in the United States, you will also notice a plethora of mind-blowing statistics.

Here are 5 crazy trucking facts

1. Around $50 billion is paid in trucking-related taxes each year

One of the aspects of trucking that isn’t often spoken about is also one of the least desirable topics – taxes. I won’t bore you with the details but if you weren’t already aware, truckers pay a lot of taxes just to own a truck. Apparently, this number sits around $50 billion per year. That’s over $3,000 per truck.

2. Over 300 billion yearly miles are registered by truck drivers

There are a handful of numbers thrown around when it comes to distance traveled by truck drivers in a year. The most reliable is 300 billion, according to trucking.org. That number is from 2020, too, which means that it could be even higher in recent years.

3. Over-the-road truckers spend over 240 nights per year away from their families

Trucking is a lifestyle. Plenty of jobs, such as an office job, will tell you that working at their company is a “lifestyle.” Usually, that’s an exaggeration. In the trucking world, it may actually be an under-exaggeration. Truck drivers, live and breathe trucking, as many of them spend weeks away from their families at a time. According to JIT Truck Parts, this adds up to around 240 nights per year.

4. Semi-trucks need three football fields of space to stop

As somebody who works in the industry, this is something that I hear all of the time. At times, it seems repetitive, but the more I drive, the more I notice four-wheelers cutting off big rigs in tight traffic situations. If you do this and get honked at by a trucker, you are the problem.

5. The transportation industry uses over 46 billion gallons of diesel fuel per year

Ever wonder why truckers never complain about regular gasoline for their cars? Currently, they’re paying a dollar more per gallon in a vehicle that has significantly worse fuel mileage.

Dunk, Semi-Truck

This guy dunked a basketball over a semi-truck

Anyone remember the guy who dunked a basketball over a semi-truck? We do.

If you don’t remember, it’s probably because it was done over a decade ago and the only remaining evidence of this can be found on a YouTube video titled “WTH!! 5’7 Mexican DUNKS OVER A SEMI-TRUCK!!! NO TRAMPOLINE!!”

The video can be seen below, with the dunk in question taking place at the 1:55 mark. It’s certainly… something.

As you can see in the video, he doesn’t really clear the semi-truck. We can cut him some slack here – I mean, it is physically impossible. Still, it’s a bit disappointing.

If you can’t see the video for some reason, it’s pretty simple. The man, who is only labeled as a “5’7 MEXICAN” can be seen performing some impressive dunks throughout the video, including instances where he jumps over people and cars. The man is clearly extremely athletic.

But the real show begins and ends toward the end of the video, when the dunker brings in a semi-truck to jump over. The disappointing part is that he just jumps on top of the hood of the semi truck and dunks the basketball. His “bounce” is still impressive, but the dunk was extremely anti-climactic.

If you want to watch somebody dunk a basketball over a semi-truck and completely clear it, you’re on the wrong planet. Unfortunately, that is physically impossible. It won’t happen.

Red Giant semi-truck

The story behind the world’s longest sleeper cab semi-truck

When it comes to semi-trucks, length isn’t necessarily something that most drivers are eager to increase. A longer truck will be harder to maneuver, and from a logistical standpoint, it will increase the weight of the vehicle.

That said, not all trucks serve the same purpose.

Sometimes, trucks have a very unique purpose — just look at Bryan Dax, a Wisconsin owner-operator who has taken a unique path in the trucking world. He began with a traditional trucking occupation and has changed it into something that better suits his interests.

Bryan Dax’s “Red Giant” doesn’t actually haul any cargo

According to 10-4 Magazine, Bryan Dax doesn’t actually haul anything. In fact, what was once a long-haul sleeper cab has quickly turned into nothing but an advertising machine. That’s what the two 11′ by 6′ LED TV screens are for on the vehicle.

In fact, Dax doesn’t cease to haul cargo because he doesn’t want to — he cannot physically carry more than a few thousand pounds. Without any cargo, the vehicle and trailer weigh a whopping 72,000 pounds, meaning a small addition could put it over the 80,000 maximum gross weight limit.

But Dax has an extremely consistent stream of money coming in as a result of this.

The coolest part? The idea was actually given to him by former boxing champion Roy Jones Jr. You see, Dax was a friend of Roy Jones Sr. and eventually developed a relationship with his boxing son. Jones Jr. would eventually suggest the idea of putting advertising on the side of his truck over a game of pool.

Dax ran with it.

How long is the “Red Giant” anyway?

Before I tell you how long the “Red Giant” is, I’ll give you a frame of reference. The average semi-truck is around 72 feet long — that is not a number that varies too greatly. Many trucks will be under that number, but few exceed it greatly.

The “Red Giant” is over 93 feet long.

Technically speaking, there was a truck that was longer than this — much longer than this. That truck measured nearly a mile long with 112 trailers being carried behind it. The caveat here is that this truck was more of a publicity stunt than anything else. There was nothing functional about it.

The longest single-trailer, fully-functional semi-truck is Bryan Dax’s Red Giant.