Long Distance General Freight Trucking NAICS 484121, 484122

May 5, 2025 - Trucking Hiring Up Ahead of Tariffs

• Trucking companies enjoyed a hiring boost in April 2025 as companies raced to stockpile inventory ahead of anticipated tariffs, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The industry added 1,000 drivers last month, the fourth straight month of growth, helping to prop up a profession that has been bleeding jobs since 2022. The gains might be short-lived, though, if a protracted trade war continues to squeeze supply lines and leads to consumer goods shortages and empty trucks. On the other hand, if trade deals with China and other countries are signed, trucking employment could stabilize. According to David Spence, VP Market Intelligence with Arrive Logistics, “Should deals be reached with China and our other key trading partners, we could see a resurgence in demand that would generate a need for additional capacity and enable employment to hold steady or even increase from here.”
• Sales of heavy duty trucks sank 13.9% year over year in February 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as companies pulled back on spending due to tariffs and overall economic anxiety. Companies are reluctant to spend money on big capital purchases, like semi trucks, when they see tariffs causing widespread disruption on import prices and supply chains. Also contributing to the dip in heavy duty truck sales volume is low demand. Fleet sizes are at overcapacity and the surplus contributes to lower freight rates, which squeezes profitability and discourages freight transporters from investing in new trucks. Other factors keeping truck buyers away is uncertainty about what kind of electric vehicle mandates the industry might face and high interest rates and financing costs. The gloomy industry outlook means carriers are instead maintaining their current fleets as long as possible.

• A lack of parking for US truckers has long been a problem for the industry with only one parking space available for every 11 drivers, per a report from The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI). Without adequate rest area parking, long-haul truckers are more prone to accidents due to fatigue. Per ATRI’s data, the average rest area in the US has 19 truck parking spaces. Southern states beat the national average with 25 parking spaces per rest area, while Northeastern states lag behind with an average of 15 spaces. The report also noted features drivers prefer in rest areas, including 24-hour security, walking trails, dump stations, pet areas, proper lighting, camera surveillance, and emergency call buttons, among others. Some state governments have aggressively tackled the issue, creating interactive parking information dashboards, converting state-owned land to parking facilities, and setting up emergency parking programs for times of bad weather.
• Trucking industry employment remained flat throughout 2024, while average wages for nonsupervisory employees in the long distance general freight trucking specialty segment increased more than 4% year-over-year in November 2024, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). A significant driver shortage brought on by attrition through retirements and younger-employee burnout in a stressful and isolating job has been hampering the industry. Truck drivers are in high demand and paid well as a result. An analysis of industry job postings by freight factoring company altLINE estimates that there is an ongoing deficit of 24,000 drivers. When combined with the average $3,900 per week a truck makes in revenue (using trucking giant Schneider National’s reported earnings), the staff shortage costs the freight industry $95 million a week.