Georgia Trucking is All About Peaches, Pecans, Peanuts, and Spaghetti

That’s right. It’s pretty simple. Georgia is the nation’s number one producer of peaches, pecans, and peanuts.3 Those are all commodities that truckers can plan to export and haul. So, where does the spaghetti come in? Let’s just say that’s the part that most truckers would rather not get a taste of.

It’s not real spaghetti, but “Spaghetti Junction,” also known as the Tom Moreland Interchange, in Atlanta. The area has been called the worst traffic bottleneck in the US. Truckers aren’t fond of it, but the fact is, it’s a significant player in access and transportation for truckers in the state.

Besides Spaghetti Junction, Georgia trucking is pretty simple. There are goods to transport and dozens of routes for truckers to get them to their destinations.

Advocacy

The Georgia trucking industry receives profound support from the Georgia Motor Trucking Association (GMTA). The association’s mission is “To work to make Georgia the best state in the nation in which to bae and operate a trucking company.”

Some member resources, events, and programs include:

• Fleet Awards
• Member Discounts
• Annual Events
• Conferences, and
• Championships

Safety and Compliance

GMTA partners with the North American Transportation Management Institute (NATMI) to offer transportation courses for professionals. NATMI’s Safety and DOT Compliance Series is a two-day seminar that focuses on driver qualifications, safety fitness and safety ratings, safety compliance skills, drug and alcohol awareness, and more.

Freight

In the US, trucks transport seventy percent of all freight. Seventy-five percent of American communities depend solely on trucks for delivering goods to their cities.7 Freight and logistics demand is a critical component in Georgia’s economy. Georgia’s Freight & Logistics Plan is one of several GDOT studies that seeks to promote economic growth across the State.

Access

Georgia has around 272,662 total lane miles.5 The state has a total of fifteen interstate highways with approximately 1,253 miles, ranking Georgia tenth in the nation of states with superhighways.

Six main interstate highways make up the Atlanta metropolitan area:

• I-20
• I-75
• I-85
• I-285
• I-575, and
• I-675

Two of the nation's seven most important north-south transcontinental interstate highways, I-95 and I-75, pass through Georgia.

Work and Wages

Georgia claims about 16,599 local truck driver jobs of America’s more than nine million jobs in the trucking industry.

Truckers in Georgia earn an average annual salary of $55,313, and the median annual wage for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in May 2020 was $46,130 annually.