Employment in the U.S. truck transportation sector has fallen to its lowest level in more than eight years, according to new Bureau of Labor Statistics data, underscoring the scale of the pressure that has built up across the industry.
The March figure stood at 1,464,100 jobs, down 800 from February after revisions. February was revised down by 700 from January, while January itself was 1,600 jobs below December’s level of 1,467,200. As a result, each of the first three months of 2026 came in below the 1,466,200 jobs recorded in December 2017, a threshold that had not been breached in the intervening period.
Compared with a year earlier, truck transportation employment is now down by 27,300 jobs. The contrast with the sector’s peak is even more striking: in October 2022, employment reached 1,588,600, meaning the March 2026 figure is lower by 124,500 jobs.
Aaron Terrazas, an independent economist with a background in trucking and a former Convoy economist, said the numbers represent a significant milestone. He noted that, aside from the most severe period of the pandemic, trucking payrolls are now at their lowest since late 2017, effectively erasing close to a decade of job gains.
He also pointed out that the BLS data does not fully capture the entire trucking workforce because it excludes self-employed operators, a major part of the industry. That means the broader employment picture may be even worse than the payroll numbers suggest. Terrazas said years of weak freight rates followed by surging diesel prices have been particularly damaging for independent truckers.
Warehouse employment was comparatively steadier, though still weak on an annual basis. March warehousing payrolls came in at 1,830,600, down 900 from February. After revisions, the figure was just 200 jobs above January’s final level, but still 50,200 below where it stood a year earlier.
Terrazas said the broader U.S. labour market continues to show instability, describing the past 11 months as a see-saw pattern of one month up and one month down. He said there has not been more than one consecutive month of clear job gains or clear job losses since May 2025. In his view, the data reflects deeper tension in the economy, with steady demand in frontline services but weaker foundations in white-collar sectors, alongside uneven performance between smaller firms and large companies.
David Spencer, vice president of market intelligence at Arrive Logistics, said the trucking figures reflect the same forces already visible in freight pricing. He said regulation and rising fuel costs are continuing to weigh on capacity, and that declining trucking employment supports the rate tightness and volatility seen over the past four months. Although spot rates have improved, Spencer said years of stagnant pricing mean many carriers still find it difficult to add or even maintain headcount.
Mazen Danaf, principal economist at Uber Freight, contrasted the decline in employment with stronger recent data on new tractor orders, which he said suggests growing confidence that current tightness may persist. Even so, he said the jobs decline likely reflects two main factors: tighter regulation that is forcing some drivers out of the market, and rising diesel costs that are squeezing smaller carriers that often lack the capital to bridge the 30-to-60-day gap between paying for fuel and receiving payment for freight.
The report also included several additional indicators. Average hourly earnings for non-supervisory employees reached $31.94 in February, on a one-month reporting lag, marking a fifth consecutive monthly increase. That compares with $30.53 in February 2024 and $29.30 in February 2023. Rail employment fell below 150,000 for the first time since November 2022, dropping to 149,600 in March from 155,800 a year earlier. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for the broader transportation and warehousing sector declined to 3.4%, down sharply from 4.9% a month earlier and the lowest level since June 2023.
