William B. Cassidy | Jan 11, 2011 9:55AM EST
The number of trucking operations tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics dropped 7.5 percent from 2007 through early 2010, a sign of significant consolidation among motor carriers over the course of the recession.
The trucking "establishments" tracked by the BLS dropped from 119,664 in 2007 to 117,583 in 2008 and 113,068 in 2009. The earliest data available for 2010 placed the number of trucking operations in the agency's sights at 110,727.
The number of companies tracked by the Department of Labor agency in the first quarter of last year was the lowest count in the past decade. The BLS tracks employment at for-hire local, long-haul and specialized trucking companies.
.jpg){kind=small}
By The Numbers: U.S. Truck Shipping Costs.
While its numbers fall short of the total number of carriers, for-hire and private, registered with the Department of Transportation -- more than 500,000 carriers -- they still represent a significant portion of the for-hire trucking industry.
Trucking employment over the same period dropped 16.6 percent, falling from more than 1.4 million to 1.2 million among the companies BLS tracks. BLS data include truck drivers, mechanics, office personnel and managers.
The not-seasonally-adjusted trucking headcount declined three quarters of one percent in December from November, falling to approximately 1,251,100 employees. That's down from a 2010 high of 1,266,200 last August.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, however, trucking added about 2,600 jobs in December from November, and about 22,900 since its low point in March. The seasonally adjusted figures were still 11.8 percent below those for December 2007.
-- Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com.
