Truck Transportation in Oregon

Oregon's truck transportation industry peaked in August 2006 with nearly 20,000 jobs covered by unemployment insurance. The industry bottomed out in 2010 with an annual average of 16,320 covered jobs, a drop of 16.5 percent from 2006, with 3,230 jobs cut. Job growth returned to truck transportation in 2011, with 770 jobs gained, pushing its annual average to about 17,100. Job growth slowed in 2012, with a 12-month gain of just 250 jobs, or 1.5 percent, through June.

Based on 2006 employment levels, Portland and the surrounding area comprised 52 percent of Oregon's truck transportation industry, with all other Oregon regions credited for the remaining 48 percent. Moving forward to 2011, Portland and the surrounding area's share fell to 49 percent, while all other Oregon regions combined rose to 51 percent.

According to the Commodity Flow Survey produced by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, freight shipments originating in Oregon during 2007 were valued at $146.9 billion. Truck transportation alone accounted for $101.1 billion or about 69 percent of Oregon's 2007 freight shipments based on value, while moving close to 90 percent of its tonnage. Within truck transportation, shipments traveling less than 50 miles represented over 41 percent of the shipment value and more than 71 percent of the tonnage.

On average, a truck shipment traveled 195 miles in 2007, with for-hire trucks traveling an average of 722 miles and private trucks an average of just 52 miles. For-hire truck shipments were valued at over $55 million in 2007, about 38 percent of Oregon's total, while private trucks moved $46 million or around 31 percent. Tonnage was evenly split, with for-hire trucks moving 40.4 percent of all outbound shipments and private trucks hauling 40.8 percent.

Freight shipment weight ranged from less than 50 pounds to more than 100,000 pounds - with loads weighing 10,000 to 49,999 pounds commanding $41.2 billion or nearly 41 percent of the value in 2007 and about 43 percent of the tonnage. Loads weighing 50,000 to 99,999 pounds reached $13.1 billion in 2007, and represented a disproportionate 41.5 percent of the tonnage.

Read more about truck transportation in the full article, written by Regional Economist Dallas Fridley.