BERKELEY, CA - FEBRUARY 18: Trucks drive along Interstate 80 on February 18, 2014 in Berkeley, California. U.S. President Barack Obama announced that his administration is beginning to develop a new phase of tighter fuel efficiency standards for medium and heavy-duty vehicles and has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency and Transportation Department's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to create and impose new fuel-efficiency and greenhouse gas standards by March 31, 2016. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
BERKELEY, CA - FEBRUARY 18: Trucks drive along Interstate 80 on February 18, 2014 in Berkeley, California. U.S. President Barack Obama announced that his administration is beginning to develop a new phase of tighter fuel efficiency standards for medium and heavy-duty vehicles and has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency and Transportation Department's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to create and impose new fuel-efficiency and greenhouse gas standards by March 31, 2016. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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I know we have over the road truckers that tune in to Open for Business each week because they often call in with their comments.

Did you ever wonder what it’s like to hit the open road with a 50-60’ foot trailer behind you?

Here are some fun facts around truckers that might surprise you.

Trucker Fun Facts

  • There are currently about 15.5 million trucks operating on US roads and highways.
  • Three and a half million men, and about 200,000 women, are what are called “long haul truck drivers” in the US.
  • Among the top good transported are clothing, food, furniture, electrical products and machinery parts.
  • Trucker’s account for 12.8 percent of all the fuel purchased in the US.
  • The average commercial 18-wheeler uses about 20,500 gallons of fuel each year. You and I use about 500 gallons a year in the family car.
  • Truckers generate about $650 billion dollars a year or about 5 percent of the American GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
  • Regulations from the EPA have cut exhaust output from trucks and off road equipment by 95 percent over the past 19 years.
  • Today it would take 60 trucks to equal the exhaust emissions of a single truck in 1988.
  • Over the road trucker’s mean salary is about $44,500 (Source: Career Builder)
  • Seventy percent of all freight transported in the US is done by truck.
  • The vast majority of trucking companies in the US are small businesses not big corporations.
  • Four common causes of truck accidents are going too fast for conditions, problems with the truck’s brakes, driver error, and driver fatigue.
  • Most truck accidents occur during lane changes.
  • One out of every 14 American jobs, more than 9 million, belong to the trucking industry.
  • Of every dollar a small business spends on shipping, .82¢ goes to shipping by truck.
  • Seventy-five percent of American communities are 100 percent dependent on trucks for delivery of goods and services to their cities.

Some Final Thoughts

The next time you wonder why there are so many trucks on the road you will know the answer.

Without truckers it would be pretty tough to live the life we live today.

Remember while you are just driving to get someplace, truckers are working. You are in their workplace so give em a break.

Besides, as we all know, when trucks and cars get together whoever has the most lug nuts wins. Stay safe out there this weekend.

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