The trucking industry is an essential part of the economy that is often overlooked. It is responsible for transporting 70% of all cargo in the United States, and 80% of American communities rely on trucks for the delivery of everyday goods, from raw materials, food, medicines and much more. Companies depend on trucks to bring new product shipments. For example, clothing stores would not be able to sell clothes without truckers delivering them.
Truck drivers are on the road early in the morning and late at night to ensure that companies can run smoothly. The trucking industry supports consumers and businesses by transporting goods across the country for everyone to buy. Without long-distance transportation and people behind the wheel, big companies like Walmart, Amazon and Home Depot would not be able to function. Small trucking companies typically operate on the owner-operator model, which means that the truck driver is self-employed.
The Carter administration deregulated the industry in order to encourage competition, leading to an influx of new trucking companies that lowered wages and increased demands on truckers. After retiring from the army, one man started working in restaurants, but the pay was so bad that his wife encouraged him to become a truck driver. Even if your items didn't arrive there in a semi-trailer, it's likely that they were shipped as raw material on a truck to a factory where they were then assembled into the item you ended up buying. Many truck drivers have children of their own and are away from home on deliveries for several days at a time. Alexander Winton invented the first semitrailer in 1898 and sold the first truck manufactured in 1899. The most important problems with food are the number of perishable items that will decline rapidly if the trucking industry comes to a complete halt.
Being in the trucking business can be lonely and there are many days when drivers are on the road more than 14 hours a day. With trucks moving 72 percent of U. S. cargo, the lack of drivers is a substantial disruption.
Only 7 percent of the 300,000 to 500,000 so-called road truck drivers in the United States are women. The next time you decide to honk a truck driver for being a little slow, think about the person inside that truck. You end up sitting outside a business for six or eight hours waiting for someone to unload your truck. Trucking companies play an integral role in our economy by providing essential services such as transporting goods across long distances and delivering products to businesses and consumers alike. Without them, many businesses would not be able to function properly and our lives would be drastically different.
