American Trucking Associations released the latest edition its annual compendium of trucking industry data – ATA American Trucking Trends 2018 – highlighting the industry's dominance over the freight market.

"Information, when presented properly and accurately, tells a story," said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. "The information in these pages highlights exactly what I tell elected officials, regulators and key decision-makers every day: trucking is literally the driving force behind our great economy. Safe, reliable and efficient motor carriers enable businesses throughout the supply chain to maintain lean inventories, thereby saving the economy billions of dollars each year."

Among the findings in this year's edition of Trends:

• Trucks moved 10.77 billion tons of freight, 70.2% of all domestic freight tonnage;

• The industry generated $700.1 billion in annual revenue in 2017, 79.3% of the nation's freight bill;

• The industry moved 69.1% of all trade between the U.S. and Mexico, and 57.7% of Canada-U.S. trade;

• Roughly 7.7 million people were employed in jobs related to trucking activity, including 3.5 million drivers;

• Of those 3.5 million drivers, there were 1.7 million heavy and tractor-trailer drivers. Minorities account for 40.6% of all drivers and 6.2% of truck drivers are women.

"Trucking is a critical part of the economy and the supply chain," said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. "Trends allows policymakers and business leaders to see just how big that impact is while debating key issues like trade, infrastructure investment, workforce development and tax policy."