Minnesota Trucking Industry Statistics & Trends (2026)
Minnesota trucking statistics with sources: state freight tonnage, driver employment and pay by role and market, port and air cargo volumes, and 2026 trends.
August 20, 2026
Most pages titled "Minnesota trucking statistics" are national numbers wearing a state name. This one separates the two.
Every figure below is dated and attributed. Minnesota-specific data is labeled as such, national data is labeled as national, and figures we could not trace to a credible source were left out entirely, with a note at the end explaining which ones and why. If you're citing any of this, that distinction matters more than the numbers themselves.
Minnesota Freight at a Glance
The authoritative source for Minnesota freight movement is the 2024 Minnesota State Freight Plan, adopted by MnDOT in November 2024.
| Metric | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Total freight flows to, from, and within Minnesota (2019) | 740 million tons | MnDOT 2024 State Freight Plan |
| Projected total freight flows (2050) | 1.04 billion tons | MnDOT 2024 State Freight Plan |
| Projected annual growth rate | 1.1% per year | MnDOT 2024 State Freight Plan |
| Largest freight mode by tonnage | Trucking | MnDOT 2024 State Freight Plan |
| Second largest mode | Pipelines | MnDOT 2024 State Freight Plan |
Minnesota's freight system is projected to move roughly 300 million more tons per year by 2050 than it did in 2019. That growth is the single most important context for anyone assessing the state's long-term demand for drivers. The full plan is published in MnDOT's Minnesota State Freight Plan.
How Freight Moves in Minnesota
Mode share, by tonnage and by value, from the same MnDOT plan:
| Mode | Share of Tonnage | Share of Value |
|---|---|---|
| Truck | Largest mode | Largest mode |
| Rail | 19% | 20% |
| Maritime | 2.3% | 0.2% |
Two observations worth drawing out. First, maritime moves 2.3% of tonnage but only 0.2% of value, which is exactly what you'd expect from a mode dominated by bulk commodities like iron ore, coal, and grain. Second, rail's tonnage and value shares are nearly identical at 19% and 20%, indicating a broader mix of goods.
A note on precision: MnDOT's plan identifies trucking as the largest mode by tonnage, but we did not find an authoritative figure for truck's exact percentage share, so we aren't publishing one. Several sites quote a specific number without attribution.
Minnesota Truck Driver Employment
Employment figures for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in Minnesota, from federal occupational projections:
| Metric | Minnesota |
|---|---|
| Total heavy and tractor-trailer driver jobs (2026 projection) | 40,860 |
| Projected annual job openings | 4,420 |
| Projected employment growth through 2032 | 6% |
| National growth rate for comparison | 4% |
The 4,420 annual openings figure deserves emphasis, because it's the number that actually matters to a job seeker. Annual openings reflect both new positions and replacement of drivers who retire or leave the occupation, which is why openings substantially outpace net growth in this field.
Minnesota's projected 6% growth against a national 4% puts the state ahead of the country in trucking employment expansion.
What Minnesota Drivers Earn by Role
This table is assembled from role-level market research conducted across 2025 and 2026. Figures are averages and vary by employer, experience, and schedule.
| Role | Minnesota Pay |
|---|---|
| Class A CDL driver | $37.31/hr ≈ $77,607/yr |
| Local truck driver | $29.67/hr ≈ $61,722/yr |
| Non-CDL delivery driver | ~$48,771/yr |
| Truck dispatcher (Minneapolis) | $46,072/yr (~$22.15/hr) |
| Truck dispatcher (statewide) | $43,230/yr |
The spread between Class A work and non-CDL delivery is roughly $29,000 a year, which is the central economic fact of driver career planning in this state. We break down what that gap does and doesn't mean in our analysis of CDL versus non-CDL jobs, and our Minnesota truck driver salary guide covers the statewide picture in more depth.
Pay by Minnesota Market
Driver pay varies meaningfully by metro. Figures below are market-level averages:
| Market | Role | Pay |
|---|---|---|
| Duluth | Local truck driver | $30.11/hr (25th–75th: $23.89–$34.62) |
| Duluth | Class A CDL | $37.86/hr ≈ $78,743/yr |
| Duluth | Dump truck driver | $22.88/hr |
| Maple Grove | W2 non-CDL box truck | $25.75–$28.00/hr |
| Maple Grove | App-based delivery | ~$18.90/hr |
| Bloomington | Delivery driver | $18.54/hr ($16.20–$20.29) |
The striking pattern here is how much the job title matters relative to the city. A W2 box truck role in Maple Grove pays roughly $7 to $9 an hour more than app delivery in the same suburb, a wider gap than exists between most Minnesota markets for the same role.
Minnesota's Freight Infrastructure
Minnesota's freight system includes assets that are nationally significant, not merely regionally.
Port of Duluth-Superior
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Status | Busiest tonnage port on the Great Lakes; North America's farthest-inland freshwater seaport |
| National ranking | Consistently top 20 U.S. ports by tonnage |
| Annual cargo | ~35 million short tons |
| Annual vessel visits | ~800 |
| Share of U.S. first-pour steelmaking fed by Mesabi Range taconite through the port | ~80% |
| Jobs dependent on the port | ~2,000 |
| Annual economic impact | ~$200 million |
That 80% figure is arguably the most consequential Minnesota freight statistic there is: a large majority of American first-pour steel begins as ore hauled out of northern Minnesota. Our Duluth market guide covers what that means for drivers in the region.
MSP International Airport air cargo
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Total cargo, 2025 | 207,896 metric tons |
| Total cargo, 2024 | 200,719 metric tons (−1.4% vs 2023) |
| Implied 2024 to 2025 change | ~+3.6% |
| Largest freight operator | FedEx |
Highway and winter operations
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Lane miles MnDOT clears of snow | 30,000 |
| MnDOT snowplow fleet | ~800 |
| Crashes involving vehicles striking snowplows (one recent year) | 72 |
What Generates Minnesota's Freight
Freight volume is downstream of what a state makes, grows, and sells. Minnesota's mix is unusually diversified, which is part of why its freight demand is projected to grow steadily rather than cyclically.
Mining and primary materials. The Mesabi Iron Range feeds taconite through Duluth-Superior to the steel industry, and that single supply chain accounts for the roughly 80% of U.S. first-pour steelmaking noted above. This is heavy, bulk, rail-and-vessel freight with a substantial trucking component at both ends.
Healthcare and medical technology. Minnesota's health systems are among its largest employers, with HealthPartners exceeding 22,500 employees and Essentia Health employing more than 7,000 in the Duluth-Superior area alone. Maple Grove hosts five of the state's 25 largest medical technology companies along with more than 160 healthcare-related businesses. Medical freight tends to be high-value and time-sensitive, which shapes the delivery windows drivers work against.
Retail and consumer distribution. Bloomington contains the largest enclosed shopping center in the United States, employing over 11,000 people year-round and up to 13,000 at peak, and Maple Grove holds 5.3 million square feet of retail space across 25 centers. Retail generates continuous inbound replenishment freight rather than seasonal spikes alone.
Agriculture and food processing. Minnesota's agricultural output moves by truck to processors, by rail and vessel to export markets, and back through the state as finished food products, producing freight in multiple directions from the same underlying commodity.
The practical implication for driver demand: a state whose freight rests on mining, healthcare, retail, and agriculture simultaneously is less exposed to any single sector's downturn than one built on a narrower base.
The Minnesota Freight Calendar
Minnesota freight has a seasonal structure most states don't share.
The Great Lakes shipping season closes every winter. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers closes the Soo Locks at 11:59 p.m. on January 15 and reopens them on March 25, roughly a ten-week shutdown. Under federal regulations the shipping season runs from mid-to-late March through mid-January, with ice conditions influencing the margins.
The practical consequence: freight tied to Great Lakes shipping has an annual pause, while freight tied to healthcare, grocery, retail, and manufacturing continues year-round. For anyone analyzing Minnesota freight employment, that distinction explains seasonal variation that would otherwise look like weakness in the market.
National Context
The figures in this section are national, not Minnesota-specific. They're included for comparison and are labeled accordingly.
Industry scale (ATA, American Trucking Trends 2025):
| Metric | Figure (National) |
|---|---|
| People employed in trucking-related jobs | 8.4 million (2024) |
| Professional drivers | 3.58 million (2024) |
| Carriers operating 10 or fewer trucks | 91.5% |
| Carriers operating small fleets | 99.3% |
| U.S. communities receiving goods exclusively by truck | ~80% |
That 91.5% figure is the one most people get wrong about this industry. Trucking is overwhelmingly a small-business sector, not a handful of national giants. ATA's American Trucking Trends is the standard reference.
Driver wages (BLS, May 2024):
| Occupation | Median | Mean | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy and tractor-trailer drivers | $57,440 ($27.62/hr) | $58,240 ($28.00/hr) | ~2,070,000 |
| Light truck drivers | $44,140 | , | , |
Full detail is in the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Cost of operations (ATRI, 2025):
| Metric | Figure (National) |
|---|---|
| Average cost to operate a truck | $2.336 per mile (record high, +3.4%) |
| Excluding fuel | $1.854 per mile (+4.2%) |
| Fuel | $0.48 per mile |
| Driver wages | $0.818 per mile |
| Driver benefits | $0.21 per mile |
| Driver share of every cost dollar | ~44% |
| Most expensive region | Northeast, $2.52 |
| Least expensive region | South-Central, $2.23 |
ATRI's operational cost research is the industry's benchmark study.
Driver turnover (ATA): large truckload carriers 90–95% annually; regional 40–60%; LTL 11–15%. Note that this metric primarily measures drivers moving between carriers rather than leaving the industry.
What the Numbers Actually Say
Five conclusions the data supports:
- Minnesota freight demand is growing. A projected rise from 740 million tons to 1.04 billion by 2050 means structurally increasing demand for drivers, independent of any given year's freight cycle.
- Minnesota is outpacing the nation in trucking employment growth, 6% against 4% through 2032, with 4,420 annual openings.
- Job title determines pay more than geography does. The gap between roles within one suburb frequently exceeds the gap between cities for the same role.
- The state's freight identity is bulk and industrial, not just parcel and retail. Maritime carrying 2.3% of tonnage but 0.2% of value, and taconite feeding roughly 80% of U.S. first-pour steel, both point the same direction.
- Operating costs are at record highs nationally. ATRI's $2.336 per mile, with drivers accounting for about 44% of it, is the backdrop against which every Minnesota carrier is currently pricing freight.
Notes on Sources and Methodology
Minnesota freight data comes from MnDOT's 2024 Minnesota State Freight Plan, adopted November 2024. Tonnage figures for 2050 are projections, not measurements.
Minnesota employment figures are federal occupational projections for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, and reflect that occupation specifically rather than all trucking-related employment.
Pay figures are market averages compiled from job-market data sources including ZipRecruiter, Salary.com, and Indeed, along with posted employer ranges, gathered across 2025 and 2026. Averages conceal wide ranges; where percentile data was available, it's shown.
National figures are attributed to ATA, BLS, and ATRI and are labeled national throughout.
What we excluded and why. Several widely circulated Minnesota trucking figures were left out because we could not trace them to a primary source: a claim of 65,500 trucking companies in Minnesota (a business directory lists roughly 1,735, a discrepancy too large to publish through), a figure of 143,180 Minnesota trucking jobs, and a claim that over 68% of state freight tonnage moves by truck. MnDOT confirms truck is the largest mode, but we found no authoritative source for that specific share. If you've seen these numbers cited elsewhere, this is why they don't appear here.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much freight moves through Minnesota?
Total freight flows to, from, and within Minnesota were about 740 million tons in 2019 and are projected to reach 1.04 billion tons by 2050, growing roughly 1.1% annually, according to MnDOT's 2024 State Freight Plan. Trucking is the largest mode by tonnage, followed by pipelines.
How many truck drivers are there in Minnesota?
Federal occupational projections put heavy and tractor-trailer truck driver employment in Minnesota at about 40,860 jobs in 2026, with roughly 4,420 projected annual openings. Minnesota trucking employment is projected to grow 6% through 2032, above the national rate of 4%.
What do truck drivers make in Minnesota?
Class A CDL drivers average about $37.31 an hour, roughly $77,607 a year. Local truck drivers average $29.67 an hour, about $61,722. Non-CDL delivery drivers average roughly $48,771 annually. Pay varies significantly by role, employer, and market.
How much cargo moves through the Port of Duluth-Superior?
The port handles roughly 35 million short tons annually across about 800 vessel visits, making it the busiest tonnage port on the Great Lakes and a consistent top-20 U.S. port. Taconite moving through it feeds approximately 80% of U.S. first-pour steelmaking.
Why does Minnesota freight have a seasonal pattern?
The Soo Locks, the gateway between Lake Superior and the rest of the Great Lakes, close January 15 and reopen March 25 each year, a roughly ten-week shutdown that pauses Great Lakes shipping. Freight tied to healthcare, grocery, retail, and manufacturing continues year-round.
The Bottom Line
The most useful Minnesota trucking statistics aren't the biggest numbers, they're the sourced ones. Minnesota's freight system is projected to grow from 740 million tons to 1.04 billion by 2050, the state is adding trucking jobs faster than the country as a whole, roughly 4,420 driver openings come available each year, and the pay range across roles spans from about $18.54 an hour for retail delivery to $37.31 an hour for Class A work. Behind all of it sits a freight economy shaped by bulk commodities, a Great Lakes port that feeds most of America's first-pour steel, and a shipping season that closes every January. If you're using these figures, please cite the original sources linked throughout. And if you're one of the 4,420 people who'll take a Minnesota driving job this year, Peak Transport hires for box truck jobs in Minneapolis and middle-mile driver jobs in St. Paul.