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April 21, 2005 North Dakota Sees Increase in Registered Trucks The number of trucks registered in North Dakota rose nearly 41 percent in the past 15 years, reaching an estimated 377,000 in 2002. This change is the result of an increase in the number of pickups, vans/minivans and sport utility vehicles. These three categories alone rose 63.1 percent and now represent 85.2 percent of all trucks in North Dakota. This month’s “Economic Briefs,” a monthly publication from the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University, focuses on the number of private and commercial trucks registered in North Dakota (from minivans to dump trucks) as reported by the vehicle inventory and use survey. The survey is conducted every five years as part of an economic census. Of the 377,000 private and commercial trucks, 66.3 percent were for personal use, which is up from 44.5 percent in 1987 and 28 percent in 1977. There are 1.8 licensed drivers for every personal-use truck in North Dakota. The national average is three licensed drivers for every personal-use truck. “The significant rise in trucks and vans in our state has been fueled in part by the growing interest in the sport utility vehicle that caters to the sport enthusiast or young at heart and the minivan that targets families,” says Richard Rathge, State Data Center director. “However, this trend may change as fuel prices continue to rise and the cost of these vehicles becomes overburdening.” Data for 2002 indicate that 111,200 trucks in the state were used for business (28.9 percent), mainly agriculture. In 1987, trucks used for agriculture represented 40.1 percent of all trucks. This proportion declined to 15.9 percent in 2002. In 2002, the majority of North Dakota trucks traveled 10,000 miles or more annually (53 percent), were five years old or older (65.6 percent), had a usual range of operation of 50 miles or less (66.2 percent) and used gasoline (79.6 percent). While the majority of trucks use gasoline, slightly more than one in 10 North Dakota trucks uses fuel other than gasoline, up from 6.8 percent in 1987. ### Source:
Richard Rathge, (701) 231-7980, Richard.Rathge@ndsu.edu
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North Dakota State University |
