February Truck Transportation Employment Report

The February employment report for truck transportation indicates a continuing decline, leaving the industry in a restricted employment range.

Seasonally adjusted jobs in truck transportation have decreased by 15,400 since February 2024. While this isn’t the largest year-over-year discrepancy in recent years, it follows a significant drop in August 2023 due to the closure of Yellow—marking the first major downturn after years of growth following the pandemic. Since then, employment numbers in the sector have been steadily decreasing.

Following the closure of Yellow, the Bureau of Labor Statistics noted that truck transportation jobs were at 1,531,600, down from 1,586,900 the previous year. Over the past 14 months, job totals have fallen below the previous month’s figure 11 times.

The total count reported on Friday, which stands at 1,515,100 jobs in truck transportation, marks the lowest figure since October’s 1,514,500. Ignoring that month, it’s the lowest since July 2021 when the industry was recovering from COVID and expanding its workforce, peaking at 1,587,700 jobs in December 2022. February’s numbers reflect a decrease of 72,600 jobs compared to that peak.

February’s significant decline and total were intensified by a revision of the January report, where the number of truck transportation jobs was initially reported as 1,521,900 but was later adjusted to 1,517,000. Consequently, February’s estimate is 1,900 jobs lower than this revised number.

Although the year-over-year comparison reflects a notable negative trend, much of that decline stems from the baseline revision and monthly declines recorded last summer. Since the reported total of 1,516,600 jobs last July, figures have fluctuated between a low of 1,514,500 in October and a high of 1,517,800 in November.

David Spencer, vice president of market intelligence at Arrive Logistics, commented that these figures signify both stability and weakness. He remarked that while there was a more optimistic forecast for trucking conditions at the end of 2024 and early January, seasonal slowdowns in February have adjusted expectations. However, he noted that overall employment has remained stable since summer 2024, with an anticipated gradual decline as trucking companies adapt to lower profitability and optimize operations until market conditions improve.