Trucking 101 - Transportation Research Board

1 Transportation RESEARCHN umber E-C146 December 2010 Trucking 101An Industry PrimerTRANSPORTATION Research Board 2010 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OFFICERS Chair: Michael R. Morris, Director of Transportation , North Central Texas Council of Governments, Arlington Vice Chair: Neil J. Pedersen, Administrator, Maryland State Highway Administration, Baltimore Division Chair for NRC Oversight: C. Michael Walton, Ernest H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering, University of Texas, Austin Executive Director: Robert E. Skinner, Jr.

2 , Transportation Research Board Transportation Research Board 2010 2011 TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES COUNCIL Chair: Robert C. Johns, Associate Administrator and Director, Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts Technical Activities Director: Mark R. Norman, Transportation Research Board Jeannie G. Beckett, Director of Operations, Port of Tacoma, Washington, Marine Group Chair Cindy J. Burbank, National Planning and Environment Practice Leader, PB, Washington, , Policy and Organization Group Chair Ronald R.

3 Knipling, Principal, , Arlington, Virginia, System Users Group Chair Edward V. A. Kussy, Partner, Nossaman, LLP, Washington, , Legal Resources Group Chair Peter B. Mandle, Director, Jacobs Consultancy, Inc., Burlingame, California, Aviation Group Chair Mary Lou Ralls, Principal, Ralls Newman, LLC, Austin, Texas, Design and Construction Group Chair Daniel L. Roth, Managing Director, Ernst & Young Orenda Corporate Finance, Inc., Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Rail Group Chair Steven Silkunas, Director of Business Development, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Public Transportation Group Chair Peter F.

4 Swan, Assistant Professor of Logistics and Operations Management, Pennsylvania State, Harrisburg, Middletown, Pennsylvania, Freight Systems Group Chair Katherine F. Turnbull, Executive Associate Director, Texas Transportation Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, Planning and Environment Group Chair Daniel S. Turner, Professor, University of Alabama, and Director, University Transportation Center for Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Operations and Maintenance Group Chair Transportation Research CIRCULAR E-C146 Trucking 101 An Industry Primer Stephen V.

5 Burks Michael Belzer Quon Kwan Stephanie Pratt Sandra Shackelford Sponsored by the Transportation Research Board Trucking Industry Research Committee December 2010 Transportation Research Board 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 Transportation Research CIRCULAR E-C146 ISSN 0097-8515 The Transportation Research Board is one of six major divisions of the National Research Council, which serves as an independent adviser to the federal government and others on scientific and technical questions of national importance.

6 The National Research Council is jointly administered by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The mission of the Transportation Research Board is to provide leadership in Transportation innovation and progress through Research and information exchange, conducted within a setting that is objective, interdisciplinary, and multimodal. The Transportation Research Board is distributing this circular to make the information contained herein available for use by individual practitioners in state and local Transportation agencies, researchers in academic institutions, and other members of the Transportation Research community.

7 The information in this circular was taken directly from the submission of the authors. This document is not a report of the National Research Council or of the National Academy of Sciences. Freight Systems Group Peter F. Swan, Chair Trucking Industry Research Committee Michael H. Belzer, Chair Charles R. Mullett, Vice Chair Brenda M. Lantz, Secretary Eric W. Beshers Paul H. Bingham Jan Birdsey Stephen V. Burks Christina S. Casgar Michael E. Conyngham Tony T. Furst David L. Miller Daniel C. Murray Paul C. Oakley Jeffrey B.

8 Short Michael C. Smith Joel Todd Spencer Gregg M. Ward Elaine King, TRB Staff Representative Ann Purdue, TRB Staff Representative Matthew A. Miller, Senior Program Associate Transportation Research Board 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 Glenda J. Beal, Production Editor; A. Regina Reid, Proofreader and Layout iii Preface he beginnings of this primer date to the early days of TRB s Trucking Industry Research Committee. The members of what was then a task force in the process of applying for permanent committee status realized that, with the exception of those who participate in the Trucking industry or specialize in studying it, few people understand the industry s most important basic facts.

9 As a result, as early as 2006 they began to discuss creating a basic industry briefing document. In 2007, with status as a standing technical committee, the members voted to establish the Subcommittee on Trucking 101, whose goal was to carry forward the creation of such a document. The document s authors are Stephen V. Burks, Michael Belzer, Quon Kwan, Stephanie Pratt, and Sandra Shackelford. It is intended to provide a basic picture of the structure of the Trucking industry for public officials, policy makers, engineers, administrators, planners, academic researchers, journalists, and anyone who needs to think about issues affecting, or affected by, Trucking .

10 Committee members emphasize two important realities of the industry. First, many of the distinct parts of the Trucking industry have different characteristics that are policy relevant, such as different operational conditions, different compensation practices, and different customers. Second, the effective use of various types of publicly available data on the industry requires some understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each data source as well as knowledge of how different data sources link to or omit particular parts of the industry.