Trends in the Size Distribution, Highway Use, and Consumption of Gasoline and Diesel Fuels of the U.S. Commercial Truck Fleet, 1977-2002

This paper focuses on various major long-range (1977-2002, 1982-2002) U.S. commercial trucking trends by using U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census Vehicle/Truck Inventory and Use Survey (VIUS/TIUS) data from this period, as well as selected 1977-2002 data from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA's) Highway Statistics. Analyses are made of (1) overall passenger vehicle versus truck consumption patterns of gasoline and diesel fuel and (2) the population growth and fuels used by all commercial truck classes and selected truck types (single unit and combination). Selected vehicle miles traveled, gallons per vehicle miles traveled, and gallons per cargo ton-miles traveled trends, as well as the effect of cargo tons per truck on fuel consumption, are also assessed. In addition, long-range trends of related factors (such as long-haul mileages driven by heavy trucks) and their impacts on both reducing fuel consumption per cargo-ton-mile and the relative shares of total commercial fuel use among truck classes were examined. Results of these trends on U.S. petroleum consumption are identified. The effects of basic engineering design and performance, national Interstate highway construction legislation, national demographic trends (such as suburbanization),more » and changes in U.S. corporate operational requirements are discussed. Their impacts on both the long-distance hauling and shorter-distance urban and suburban delivery markets of the commercial trucking industry are highlighted.« less