Long Distance General Freight Trucking NAICS 484121, 484122

Jul 30, 2025 - Autonomous Trucks Gain Ground

• Autonomous trucks being tested in select markets in the US are now driving at night, extending beyond daytime, and primarily hauling food and other products that need refrigeration. Startup Aurora Innovation operates driverless trucks in Texas on a Houston-Dallas route, and has upgraded its technology to allow the trucks to “see” better at night, a significant challenge for the nascent rigs. About a dozen states allow autonomous trucks on the road, but there are no consistent federal regulations on their use, leaving rulemaking up to a patchwork of state oversight. Autonomous trucks hauling goods at night have the potential to shake up the entire long-haul transportation industry. Companies will be able to leave exhausting, long-haul runs to the driverless trucks, allowing younger drivers and newly licensed drivers to focus more on local deliveries, improving work-life balance for drivers and squelching burnout.
• Trucking companies expect freight demand to remain flat this year as the industry heads into its busiest time of the year when retailers load up on back-to-school and holiday products. Whipsawing US tariff policies causing fast shifts in import and inventory volume hit trucking hard in a year when the industry expected to make a comeback from a three-year decline. The Cass Freight Index, which measures US shipping demand, fell 4% year over year in May as companies who stocked up on inventory ahead of tariffs now have less use for freight transportation, squelching demand. The overall effect is sinking freight rates, with the average contract rate for May at $2.36 a mile, down 7 cents from the previous year. The industry is also pulling back on investments with orders for heavy duty trucks in May falling to one of the lowest levels in two years, per ACT Research.

• Truck drivers must be able to proficiently read and speak English in order to haul freight in the United States or risk losing their license according to new guidance from the Department of Transportation (DOT). The policy allows authorities to pull over truck drivers and give them a roadside English test. If they don’t pass, they will be taken off the road, although there is some question about how state and local law enforcement will identify possible violations. Previously, drivers who were not English speakers were issued a ticket, but the new DOT policy removes the driver from the road altogether. The change is designed to improve highway safety by ensuring drivers can read road signs and signals, be able to communicate with the general public and officials, and write reports. According to forecaster FTR Intelligence, there were more than 15,000 English proficiency violations in the last two years.
• 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.