ATA Recognizes Professional Truck Drivers During National Truck Driver Appreciation Week

ARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Trucking Associations is taking this week to honor the 3.5 million professional truck drivers that deliver America's freight safely and securely everyday.

"Professional truck drivers deserve recognition for safely delivering our nation's freight," said ATA President and CEO Bill Graves. "As a result of their commitment, our nation's highways are the safest they've ever been and our grocery shelves are stocked. We as a nation owe a great deal to the truck drivers out on our nation's roads everyday."

During this National Truck Driver Appreciation Week Nov. 1-7, ATA and its state affiliates will mark the celebration by holding events across the nation. ATA's Share the Road tractor-trailer and Share the Road professional drivers are at Bressler's Truck Stop on I-80 in Pennsylvania today with the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association cooking hot dogs and saying "thank you" to the professional truck drivers they meet. They continue on to Virginia and the Fairfield Safety Rest Area on I-81 Wednesday to do an event with the Virginia Trucking Association. The ATA Image Trailer is in Florida today at the Ft. Pierce Flying J truck stop before traveling on to Tampa to participate in the Florida Trucking Association's event at the I-4 Plant City Scales Thursday.

The celebrations this week hosted by motor carriers, shippers and other trucking-related industries include million-mile and safety awards, cash bonuses or gifts, an extra paid day off, a cup of coffee or windshield cleaning at truck stops, goodie bags with fresh fruit and water, and numerous celebration meals - some lasting all week until every driver cycles through company headquarters. Office personnel at some companies are also encouraged to spend a few days out on the road to see the driver's side of their business.

The dates for upcoming National Truck Driver Appreciation Week celebrations will be: September 19-25, 2010; September 11-17, 2011; and September 16-22, 2012.

There are 3.5 million professional truck drivers nationwide - delivering the goods U.S. consumers need every day of the year. Logging over 432 billion miles per year, trucks delivered 10.7 billion tons of freight in 2007, or 69 percent of total U.S. freight tonnage. Professional truck drivers are more essential to the national economy than ever before, and they're delivering their loads safely and professionally. To learn more about how essential the trucking industry is, visit www.ntdaw.org.

The American Trucking Associations is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of other trucking groups, industry-related conferences and its 50 affiliated state trucking associations, ATA represents more than 37,000 members covering every type of motor carrier in the United States. www.truckline.com

THE U.S. TRUCKING INDUSTRY: KEEPING SAFETY FIRST

• Over the past 20 years (1987 to 2007) there has been a 52 percent increase in registered large trucks and a 70 percent increase in miles traveled by large trucks.
• Over the same time period, the number of large trucks involved in fatal crashes has declined by 10 percent, and the vehicle involvement rate for large trucks in fatal crashes has declined by 47 percent.
• In 2007, the fatal crash rate was a record low 1.85 fatal crashes per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, compared with 4.58 in 1975, the first year the USDOT began keeping records.
• Over the past decade alone, the large truck fatal crash rate dropped by 23 percent.
  

PROFESSIONAL TRUCK DRIVERS AND THE TRUCKING INDUSTRY:

• Professional truck drivers drove over 430 billion miles in 2006, a 146 percent increase in 25 years.
• Most individual long haul drivers average from 100,000 to 110,000 miles driving per year; regional and city drivers will put in an average 48,000 miles behind the wheel; the average daily run for an over the road driver is nearly 500 miles.
• The trucking industry averages $7,000 to $8,000 in taxes and fees per truck.
• The trucking industry uses 53.9 billion gallons of diesel fuel and gasoline annually.
• There are over 3 million tractor-trailers on the road in the U.S.
• There are 3.5 million truck drivers in the U.S.
• There are over 290,000 for-hire carrier and more than 500,000 private trucking companies in the U.S.; 97 percent of them have fewer than 20 trucks.
• In 2007, the trucking industry hauled 10.7 billion tons of freight, or 69 percent of total U.S. freight tonnage. Rail was the next busiest mode, moving 13.3 percent.
• Over 80 percent of U.S. communities depend solely on trucking for delivery of their goods and commodities.
  

*statistics quoted are most recent available