“Trends is an important record of how the trucking industry is performing,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “That’s why it is on the shelves of business leaders and policymakers across North America. “This year’s edition shows that 2023 was a very challenging year, but the industry weathered the storm, moving more than 11 billion tons of freight during the year,” he said. Among the key findings in this year’s report: *Preliminary figures indicate that trucks moved 11.18 billion tons of freight in 2023, down from the 11.46 billion tons hauled the previous year. *Preliminary figures indicate that the industry saw revenues grow to $987 billion, up from $940.8 billion in 2022. *Trucking employed 8.5 million people in industry-related jobs, including 3.55 million professional drivers in 2023. *The industry remains one made up of small businesses, with 95.5% of carriers operating 10 or fewer trucks and 99.6% operating fewer than 100 power units. *Cross-border trade remained a robust source of freight for motor carriers, with trucks moving 66.5% of surface trade between the US and Canada, and 84.5% of goods across the Mexican border in 2023.

FreightWaves CEO Craig Fuller calls the truck driver shortage a “myth” in a recent piece of self-promotion, but his assertion collapses under the weight of facts and data. Fuller claims the mythical shortage is an ATA fabrication—a narrative perpetuated for our convenience. Of course, we’re not alone in reporting this issue. Driver shortages are global in scope, with growing vacancies felt across the Americas, Asia, and Europe, and documented in IRU’s 2022 Global Driver Shortage Report: In Europe, driver shortages jumped by 42% from 2020 to 2021, with vacant driver positions reaching 71,000 in Romania, 80,000 in both Poland and Germany, and 100,000 in the UK. In Mexico, shortages rose by 30% to reach 54,000, while in China, they increased by 140%, reaching 1.8 million.

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) has now launched its new charging system for electric cars in Germany. The Heidelberg Wallbox Home Eco is the first ever product for end customers in a company history that spans almost 170 years. The system is aimed at individuals and also at businesses and local authorities that want to use the charging station to recharge the electric vehicles in their own fleets as well as those of customers and visitors. The Wallbox Home Eco has a CE-compliant design. Heidelberg developed all the power electronics itself and they are produced exclusively in Germany. Comparable solutions from Heidelberg have already proved a market success, with over 20,000 Wallboxes for the electric cars of a premium manufacturer and over 100,000 smart charging cables manufactured to customer specifications. Click Read More below for additional information.