U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Vehicle Technologies Program

Fact #358: February 7, 2005
Trucks by Weight Class, 1997 and 2002

Trucks are often categorized by eight different weight classes, which are assigned by the truck manufacturer as the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR). The recently released 2002 Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey (VIUS) data show increases in the four lightest truck weight classes and decreases in the four heaviest truck classes from the 1997 VIUS data. Class 2 trucks (6,001–10,000 lb GVWR), which make up one third of all trucks, increased by 25% from 1997 to 2002.

Number of Trucks by GVWR, 1997 and 2002
Graph showing the gross vehicle weight rating of trucks in 1997 and 2002 from the recently released 2002 Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey.
Differences in the Number of Trucks Between 1997 and 2002
Graph showing the percentage difference in the number of trucks (by GVWR) in 1997 and 2002

Supporting Information

Number of Trucks by Weight Class
Manufacturer's GVWR Number of Trucks, 1997 Share, 1997 Number of Trucks, 2002 Share, 2002 Difference, 1997–2002
6,000 lb and less 45,240,632 62.1% 51,941,389 61.0% 15%
6,001–10,000 lb 22,373,167 30.7% 28,041,234 32.9% 25%
10,001–14,000 lb 510,476 0.7% 691,342 0.8% 35%
14,001–16,000 lb 194,951 0.3% 290,980 0.3% 49%
16,001– 9,500 lb 178,111 0.2% 166,472 0.2% -7%
19,501–26,000 lb 1,884,246 2.6% 1,709,574 2.0% -9%
26,001–33,000 lb 207,386 0.3% 179,790 0.2% -13%
33,000 lb and up 2,211,283 3.0% 2,153,996 2.5% -3%
Total 72,800,252 100.0% 85,174,777 100.0% 17%

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1997 Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey, Microdata File on CD, 2000.

U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 2002 Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey, Microdata File on CD, 2004.

 

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