The National Tank Truck Carriers, Inc. (NTTC) announced on March 30 the availability of its Tank Truck Industry Market Analysis publication. This marks the first time the industry has created a systematic approach to calculate the amount of freight moved by tank trucks, according to an NTTC press release.
The study also quantifies the market by commodity type based on government commodity flow survey information and the input of an advisory committee that comprises several NTTC carrier members.
The publication, authored by American Trucking Assns.’ chief economist Bob Costello and his team, was commissioned at the request of NTTC’s carrier membership to create an economic model to gauge the size and scope of the varied service segments within the tank truck industry.
“This new study offers first-rate economic market intelligence that never before existed leaving most to rely on anecdotal guesstimates about our unique industry at best,” NTTC president Daniel R. Furth said. “Now industry players can really gauge the varied service segments and their respective market shares and apply this intelligence to planning and operations. Moreover, the study gives us a solid baseline to track market trends by commodity types over time as new commodity flow information becomes available.”
Key findings include the following metrics on tank truck tonnage, capacity and revenue in 2013:
•The industry hauled 2.48 billion tons of freight, which equaled 25.6% of all truck freight (9.68 billion tons).
•The largest commodity group for all tank truck freight was petroleum products (gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel), which equaled 1.22 billion tons, or 49.2% of all tank truck tonnage, followed by sands at 419.9 million tons (15.2%), and chemicals excluding fertilizers and cryogenics at 240.9 million tons (9.5%).
•The industry generated $34.5 billion in revenue, which equaled 5.1% of all truck revenue ($681.7 billion).
•The commodity group that generated the most revenue for for-hire carriers in 2013 was chemicals, excluding fertilizers and cryogenics, at just under $7 billion, or 28.3% of all for-hire tank truck revenue. Closely following chemicals was petroleum products, which brought in $6.8 billion in revenue in 2013, or 27.5% of all for-hire tank truck revenue. Cements were a distant third at $2.3 billion, or 9.5% of the total.
•The industry operated 163,670 tractors, or 10.9% of the roughly 1.5 million of all over-the-road tractors in the U.S.
This publication is the first in a planned series of periodic calculations of the tank truck industry. The NTTC expects to provide historical data for time series comparisons as well as forecasts and potential expansion of the research to include trailer capacity.
