Louisiana Fast Facts

1. Employment:

In 2008, the trucking industry in Louisiana provided 103,127 jobs, or one out of 15 in the state. Total trucking industry wages paid in Louisiana in 2008 exceeded $4.7 billion, with an average annual trucking industry salary of $45,746. In May 2008, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that truck drivers, heavy, tractor-trailer and light, delivery drivers, held 40,280 jobs with a mean annual salary of $30,725.

2. Small Business Emphasis:

There are over 6,985 trucking companies located in Louisiana, most of them small, locally owned businesses. These companies are served by a wide range of supporting businesses both large and small.

3. Transportation of Essential Products:

Trucks transported 77.4 percent of total manufactured tonnage in the state in 2009 or 1,294,398 tons per day. Over 78 percent of communities depend exclusively on trucks to move their goods.

1. As an Industry:

In 2008, the trucking industry in Louisiana paid approximately $466.6 million in federal and state roadway taxes and fees. The industry paid 37 percent of all taxes and fees owed by Louisiana motorists, despite trucks representing only 15 percent of vehicle miles traveled in the state.

2. Individual Companies:

In 2009, a typical five-axle tractor-semitrailer combination paid $4,688 in state highway user fees and taxes in addition to $8,959 in federal user fees and taxes. These taxes were over and above the typical taxes paid by businesses in Louisiana.

3. Roadway Use:

In 2008, Louisiana had 61,095 miles of public roads over which all motorists traveled 45.1 billion miles. Trucking’s use of 2008 public roads was 6.75 billion miles in 2008.

1. Continually Improving:

At the national level, the large truck fatal crash rate for 2008 was 1.64 fatal crashes per 100 million vehicle miles of travel (VMT). This rate is at its lowest point since the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) began keeping these records. Since 1975 this rate has dropped 64 percent.

2. Sharing the Road:

The trucking industry is committed to sharing the road safely with all vehicles. The Share the Road program sends a team of professional truck drivers to communities around the country to teach car drivers about truck blind spots, stopping distances and safe merging around large trucks, all designed to reduce the number of car-truck accidents.

3. Safety First:

Louisiana Motor Transport Association members put safety first through improved driver training, investment in advanced safety technologies and active participation in industry safety initiatives at the local, state and national levels.

1. Fuel Consumption:

The trucking industry continues to improve energy and environmental efficiency even while increasing the number of miles driven. In 2008 combination trucks consumed nearly 45 billion fewer gallons of fuel than passenger vehicles in the U.S. and accounted for just 16 percent of the total fuel consumed.

2. Emissions:

Through advancements in engine technology and fuel refinements, new diesel truck engines produce 98 percent fewer particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions than a similar engine manufactured prior to 1990. Sulfur emissions from diesel engines have also been reduced by 97 percent since 1999.

3. Partnerships:

Through the U.S. EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership, the trucking industry is working with government and businesses to quantify greenhouse gas emissions and take steps to reduce them.