Transportation in U.S. history has evolved from wagons on 1820s roads to deregulation in the 1970s and 1980s to modern-day innovations such as clean and autonomous trucking. 

In honor of America's 250th anniversary, let's look back at how trucking began and how it got to where it is today. The gallery above walks through trucking history with archival photos and insights. And here are a few other notable historic moments not featured in the gallery:

• 1917: The Federal Excise Tax (FET) places a tax on all new heavy-duty truck sales.
• 1982: The Surface Transportation Assistance ACT provided funding for infrastructure improvements and established a federal standard for truck length and weight. 
• 1985: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency begins setting emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks with significant changes in 2007, 2010, and most recently 2027. 
• 2015: Electronic logging devices are mandated. 
• 2021: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency establishes the Clean Trucks Plan.