Where America's trucking businesses are: the top states for long-distance carriers

There are roughly 60,137 long-distance truckload trucking establishments in the U.S. (NAICS 484121, 2023 Census County Business Patterns), and they cluster in a handful of states. California leads with 7,792, but the surprise is second place: Illinois has 6,973 — ahead of Texas's 6,318 — a reflection of Chicago's role as the country's rail-and-road freight hub. Florida follows with 3,866, then Pennsylvania 2,160, Michigan 2,058, Georgia 1,967, and North Carolina 1,952.

The geographic tilt matters because trucking is one of the toughest commercial-auto risks to price, and the states with the most carriers tend to have the deepest insurance markets — more admitted and surplus-lines insurers writing the class, more filed rate options, and more room for an owner-operator to compare.

It is also one of the most demanding coverage stacks in commercial lines. Interstate carriers of general freight must carry a federal minimum of $750,000 in liability under FMCSA rules (49 CFR §387.9), and many shippers and freight brokers contractually require $1 million. Layered on top of primary liability are physical-damage coverage on the tractor and trailer, motor-truck cargo coverage, and non-trucking (bobtail) liability. And the line is under real pressure: commercial auto ran a 74.4% loss ratio in 2023 — the worst of the major commercial lines (NAIC) — which is why trucking premiums keep climbing. See how commercial-auto profitability varies by state on our market profitability pages, and how it compares with other lines in our loss ratios by line breakdown.

Paid employees = total employment reported for the week of March 12, U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 County Business Patterns. "—" marks state cells the Census suppressed for disclosure.

Counts are establishments classified under NAICS 484121 (General Freight Trucking, Long-Distance, Truckload) in the U.S. Census Bureau's 2023 County Business Patterns, the most recent CBP release. An establishment is a single physical location, so a carrier operating in several states is counted once per location; figures count establishments, not vehicles or employees. State rows exclude cells the Census suppressed for disclosure. Liability minimums cite FMCSA 49 CFR §387.9; the loss-ratio figure is from the NAIC 2023 Report on Profitability by Line by State.

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