Here’s how the rise in e-commerce is impacting America’s truck drivers [Video]

E-commerce sales have more than doubled since 2017, remaining elevated as new norms took hold amid the COVID-19 pandemic. While many people chose to start shopping online due to lockdown orders and social distancing mandates, most kept these habits even after restrictions eased. In turn, trucking industry earnings and local trucking jobs have grown substantially.

The most notable transportation industry effect was local freight driver jobs growth. In an e-commerce economy, short-distance truckers are much more necessary as companies store goods in more distributed warehouses rather than a few centralized locations. These roles grew by over 20% from 2017 to 2023—more than three times the overall job growth rate during that period. High volumes of short-distance truckers are critical to ensure the short delivery windows that shoppers have come to expect.

By comparison, long-haul trucking jobs have grown just 4% since 2017. While long-distance trucking still accounts for over 7 …