US Transportation and Warehousing Sector

The 237,525 transportation and warehousing establishments in the US provide the transport of commodities, goods, cargo, and passengers by land, sea, or air as well as temporary and long-term storage for goods.

Variable Fuel Costs

Fuel is a major expense, and the cost can vary significantly based on global market conditions.

Supply Chain Interdependence

The transportation and warehouse sectors are integral parts of the supply chain so the sectors are dependent on the effectiveness of the other links, which include suppliers, manufacturers, wholesalers, importers, exporters, e-commerce, and distributors that may be located anywhere in the world.

Oct 5, 2026 - Sky High Diesel Prices Deepen Trucking Industry Strain

• Diesel prices have become a serious threat to trucking companies already struggling with thin margins and years of rising operating costs. The Wall Street Journal reports that the national average diesel price recently hit a record $6.53 per gallon, nearly $3 higher than a year earlier. Independent truckers and small fleets face the greatest pressure because they often pay fuel costs upfront and lack the bargaining power to secure the fuel surcharges available to larger carriers. Some owner-operators are cutting virtually every discretionary expense or parking their trucks altogether, while more than a dozen trucking companies filed for bankruptcy in the past month. Fuel is only part of the squeeze: drivers also report sharply higher repair, parts, insurance, and financing costs. The pressure could further shrink trucking capacity if smaller operators exit the market, while higher freight costs work their way into prices for food and other goods.
• The US taxi industry remains an important part of the ground transportation market despite years of competition from ride-hailing services. Taxis retain a foothold at locations where passengers value immediately available transportation, such as hotels, train stations, hospitals, and dense downtown areas. Operators have also adopted digital dispatch and booking technology while maintaining traditional street-hail and taxi-stand service. The broader driver market remains active: the Bureau of Labor Statistics counted about 204,200 taxi drivers, including ride-hailing drivers, in 2025 and projects employment to grow nearly 12% by 2035, compared with 3.5% across all occupations. New York offers one sign of traditional taxis’ resilience, with yellow-cab trips rising 33% between September 2022 and September 2025, according to the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission. Accessibility is another niche: more than half of New York’s active taxi fleet is now wheelchair accessible.
• The AI boom is starting to ripple well beyond the technology sector, giving freight forwarders another potentially important source of cargo. The US had more than 305 million square feet of warehouse space under construction in the second quarter of 2026, an 18% jump from a year earlier, according to Cushman & Wakefield, with the rapid data center build out helping fuel demand. Those projects require a steady flow of expensive, often imported equipment, from servers and networking hardware to the massive electrical and cooling systems needed to keep AI facilities running. That plays to freight forwarders’ strengths because many of these shipments are valuable, time-sensitive, and moving through complicated global supply chains. As billions of dollars pour into new AI infrastructure, forwarders could see more demand for expedited transportation and project logistics, particularly around the fast-growing data-center markets where construction schedules leave little room for late equipment.
• Ford and General Motors are intensifying their century-old rivalry as US trade policy creates new winners and losers across their increasingly different supply chains. Ford, which assembles more vehicles and employs more factory workers in America, is pushing for higher tariffs on imported vehicles, particularly GM’s lower-priced models built in South Korea, while seeking relief from steep aluminum duties. GM counters that it contributes more to the overall U.S. workforce and criticizes Ford’s reliance on Chinese battery technology, while promoting its own domestic battery development. The companies have also clashed over federal support and proposed restrictions on Chinese EV components. Despite these differences, Ford and GM remain aligned on preserving the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement and favoring North American-made vehicles and parts over imports from overseas markets.

Industry size & Structure

The transportation and warehousing sector is comprised of 237,500 firms that employ 6.2 million workers and generate $1.5 trillion in annual revenue, according to government sources.

• The transportation and warehousing sector represents 3.3% of the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs 4% of the country's workers.
• The sector is concentrated at the top with the 50 largest firms representing 40% of revenue, but it is fragmented at the bottom.
• In addition to employer establishments, the transportation and warehousing sector has about 4.4 million owner-operated establishments with no employees. Subsectors with the highest numbers of nonemployer establishments are transit and ground passenger transportation (39%) and truck transportation (20%). The owners of nonemployer establishments typically perform the work and may outsource support functions like marketing and accounting.
• Employment in transportation and warehousing occupations is projected to grow by 6.5% between 2021 and 2031, slightly above the 5.3% projected growth for all occupations in that period