Trends in the Use of Large Trucks by Truckload and Less-Than-Truckload Motor Carriers in the 1990s

Abstract

Using information from the Economic Census, Motor Carrier Financial and Operating Statistics, and the Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey, trends are examined in specialization and in vehicle use in the truckload (TL) and less-than-truckload (LTL) segments of the for-hire trucking industry. The VIUS data show that capacity, output, and intensity of use vary significantly by segment. TL firms have almost three times as many large trucks as LTL firms and operate more than three times the annual total miles, a consequence of the fact that TL firms use their vehicles more intensely (mean annual miles) than LTL firms. This gap, however, closed slightly during the 1990s. Both types of operations shifted vehicles away from local toward long-haul service in the 1990s, but LTL, which is less specialized in this regard, shifted more sharply.