Industry data
Trucking industry statistics
The numbers behind Australian road freight: the people who drive the trucks, the trucks on the register, new truck sales, the businesses that run them, the freight they carry and the safety record. Each figure links to the agency or industry body that published it and shows the period it applies to.
Reviewed 19 October 2026
Key figures
- 195,800 people employed as truck drivers
- 12% of truck driver positions in Australia estimated to be unfilled
- 45 years median age of a truck driver
- 45,191 new trucks and heavy vans sold
- 65,225 road freight businesses trading
- 130,153 articulated trucks registered, as estimated by BITRE
Truck drivers and the driver shortage
Who drives Australia's trucks, what they earn and how hard drivers are to find. Workforce figures come from Jobs and Skills Australia, which publishes them from ABS data including the Labour Force Survey and the Census. The shortage estimate comes from the IRU's survey of road transport operators.
195,800
people employed as truck drivers
People whose main job is truck driving. ABS Labour Force Survey, Detailed, as trend data calculated by Jobs and Skills Australia.
Link to this figure12%
of truck driver positions in Australia estimated to be unfilled
Down from 13% in 2024. The IRU measures the shortage as unfilled driver positions as a share of the total driver workforce, from its annual survey of road transport operators.
Link to this figure45 years
median age of a truck driver
ABS Labour Force Survey, four-quarter average, as published by Jobs and Skills Australia.
Link to this figure49 hours
average week for a full-time truck driver
ABS 2021 Census, as published by Jobs and Skills Australia.
Link to this figure$1,960
median weekly pay for full-time, non-managerial truck driver employees on adult pay rates, before tax
Full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate, before tax and salary sacrificed amounts, from the ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, as published by Jobs and Skills Australia.
Link to this figure| Age group | Share of truck drivers |
|---|---|
| 15 to 19 | |
| 20 to 24 | |
| 25 to 34 | |
| 35 to 44 | |
| 45 to 54 | |
| 55 to 59 | |
| 60 to 64 | |
| 65 and over |
Share of truck drivers in each age group, by place of usual residence, as published by Jobs and Skills Australia.
Link to this chartTrucks on the road
How many trucks are on the register, how fast the fleet is growing and how old it is, from BITRE's estimates of the vehicles registered across Australia.
412,018
heavy rigid trucks registered
BITRE's estimate. Rigid trucks over 4.5 tonnes gross vehicle mass. This edition revised BITRE's earlier estimates, moving some trucks with missing gross vehicle mass information from light rigid to heavy rigid.
Link to this figure291,658
light rigid trucks registered
BITRE's estimate. Rigid trucks over 3.5 tonnes and up to 4.5 tonnes gross vehicle mass. This edition moved some trucks with missing gross vehicle mass information from light rigid to heavy rigid.
Link to this figure130,153
articulated trucks registered, as estimated by BITRE
A prime mover built to tow one or more trailers.
Link to this figure5.6%
growth in registered rigid trucks over the year
BITRE's figure, given as approximate, for light and heavy rigid trucks together.
Link to this figure1.4%
growth in registered articulated trucks over the year
BITRE's figure, given as approximate.
Link to this figure4,304,589
light commercial vehicles registered
BITRE's estimate. Vehicles built mainly to carry goods, up to 3.5 tonnes gross vehicle mass.
Link to this figure| Vehicle type | Average age in years |
|---|---|
| Heavy rigid trucks | |
| Articulated trucks | |
| Light commercial vehicles | |
| Passenger vehicles | |
| Light rigid trucks | |
| All motor vehicles |
BITRE's estimated average age, in years since first manufactured. Vehicles with an unknown year of manufacture are left out.
Link to this chartNew truck sales
New trucks and heavy vans sold in Australia, from the Truck Industry Council's sales database.
45,191
new trucks and heavy vans sold
Trucks and vans over 3.5 tonnes gross vehicle mass, from the T-Mark sales database.
Link to this figure| Year | New trucks and heavy vans sold |
|---|---|
| 2022 | |
| 2023 | |
| 2024 | |
| 2025 |
| Segment | Sold |
|---|---|
| Heavy duty trucks | |
| Light duty trucks | |
| Light duty vans | |
| Medium duty trucks |
Heavy duty: three or more axles, or two axles with more than 8 tonnes gross vehicle mass and more than 39 tonnes gross combined mass. Medium duty: more than 8 tonnes gross vehicle mass and up to 39 tonnes gross combined mass. Light duty trucks and vans: over 3.5 tonnes and up to 8 tonnes gross vehicle mass.
Link to this chartTrucking businesses
How many businesses work mainly in road freight, how big they are and where they are based, from the ABS count of actively trading businesses.
65,225
road freight businesses trading
ANZSIC class 4610, road freight transport.
Link to this figure40,759
road freight businesses with no employees
Non-employing in ABS terms: no active payroll withholding role with a remittance to the ATO in the past five quarters, or three years for annual remitters.
Link to this figure| Employees | Businesses |
|---|---|
| No employees | |
| 1 to 4 | |
| 5 to 19 | |
| 20 to 199 | |
| 200 or more |
| State or territory | Businesses |
|---|---|
| Victoria | |
| New South Wales | |
| Queensland | |
| Western Australia | |
| South Australia | |
| Tasmania | |
| Australian Capital Territory | |
| Northern Territory |
Businesses are counted in their main state. A handful in other territories or with no known state are left out, and the ABS may perturb these counts slightly to protect confidentiality, so the states may not add exactly to the total.
Link to this chartFreight moved by road
How much freight moves by road, measured in tonne kilometres: the weight carried multiplied by the distance it travels.
253 billion tonne kilometres
of freight moved by road
BITRE's approximate figure for the domestic road freight task.
Link to this figure786 billion tonne kilometres
total domestic freight task across all modes
BITRE estimates the task reached its highest point in 2024-25.
Link to this figureRoad safety
Road deaths in crashes involving heavy vehicles, and the work health and safety record of truck driving as an occupation.
225
road deaths in crashes involving a heavy vehicle
Up 22.3% on the previous 12 months. Heavy vehicles include buses.
Link to this figure118
deaths in crashes involving articulated trucks
Up 26.9% on the previous 12 months.
Link to this figure96
deaths in crashes involving heavy rigid trucks
Up 24.7% on the previous 12 months.
Link to this figureCommon questions
Is there a truck driver shortage in Australia?
In the IRU's annual survey of road transport operators, 12% of truck driver positions in Australia were estimated to be unfilled. The median age of a truck driver is 45 years .
How many truck drivers are there in Australia?
195,800 people were employed as truck drivers, according to Jobs and Skills Australia.
How old are most truck drivers?
The median age of an Australian truck driver is 45 years . The age chart above shows how drivers were spread across age groups at the Census.
How many women drive trucks in Australia?
Women make up 6% of truck drivers.
How many trucks are there in Australia?
BITRE estimates that state and territory registers held 412,018 heavy rigid trucks, 291,658 light rigid trucks and 130,153 articulated trucks.
How many trucks are sold in Australia each year?
45,191 new trucks and heavy vans were sold, a fall of 11.9% from the record set the year before.
Using these figures
You are welcome to quote any figure on this page. Please credit the original publisher named beside it, and link to this page if it saved you time. Each figure has its own link, so you can send readers straight to it.
How these figures are put together
Every figure on this page comes from the published source linked beside it and applies to the period shown with it. Figures are copied as published. Nothing is estimated, adjusted or combined from different sources.
Each figure is checked against its source when the page is reviewed, and the review date is shown at the top of the page. If a source publishes a newer figure before then, or you spot an error, let us know through the contact page.
Sources
- Jobs and Skills Australia: Truck Drivers (ANZSCO 7331), ANZSCO-based occupation profile, superseded: ANZSCO Occupation data, February 2026. ABS Labour Force Survey, Detailed, February 2026, as Jobs and Skills Australia trend data (employment); ABS Labour Force Survey, 2025 four-quarter average (median age, female share, full-time share); ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025 (earnings); ABS 2021 Census of Population and Housing, place of usual residence (full-time hours, age profile). Data current as of March 2026. Updates: Will not be updated again on the ANZSCO basis. Jobs and Skills Australia's OSCA-based occupation profiles so far use 2021 Census data, and it plans a fuller set of OSCA occupation data, including Labour Force Survey data, in November 2026. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- International Road Transport Union (IRU): Global Driver Shortage Report 2025, intelligence briefing preview. Annual survey of road transport operators, distributed through IRU's national association network. Updates: Annual. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- Safe Work Australia: WHS trade profile: truck drivers, November 2025. Safe Work Australia traumatic injury fatalities data. Updates: Periodic. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE): Road vehicles Australia, January 2026. BITRE's estimates from state and territory registry data recorded on the National Exchange of Vehicle and Driver Information System (NEVDIS) at 31 January 2026, published October 2026. This edition revises BITRE's 2024 and 2025 estimates, moving some vehicles between vehicle types, and adopts a new motive power classification. BITRE confidentialises its vehicle counts, suppressing cells with fewer than 3 units and perturbing or suppressing other cells where needed. Updates: Annual. Estimates for any year may be revised or corrected in later editions. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- Truck Industry Council: T-Mark truck market comment: fourth quarter and full year 2025. T-Mark truck market sales database, released 5 January 2026. Updates: Quarterly. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- Australian Bureau of Statistics: Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, July 2021 to June 2025 (data cube 2). ANZSIC class 4610, road freight transport, released 16 December 2025. Updates: Annual. Industry class detail is released each December. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE): Australian Infrastructure and Transport Statistics Yearbook 2025: freight. BITRE estimates of the domestic freight task by mode. Updates: Annual. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE): Road deaths in crashes involving heavy vehicles, quarterly bulletin: January to March 2026. Australian Road Deaths Database. Updates: Quarterly. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
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