Mario Tama/Getty Images The trucking industry in the United States is worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

The US trucking industry accounts for more than 5% of all the full-time jobs in America, even though truckers themselves earn a lower-than-average wage.

Here are 11 surprising facts about the US trucking industry.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The United States is hugely dependent on truckers. Data show that trucking moves 71% of all the freight in America, and nearly 6% of all the full-time jobs in the country are in the trucking industry. The industry employs millions of drivers and generates hundreds of billions of dollars in annual revenue. It serves as the vital lifeline between producers and consumers when it comes to everything from gasoline to gallons of milk. While the trucking industry is now decades old, it remains dynamic, with constant demand from consumers keeping trucking as vital to the economy as ever. Read on for 11 facts you might not know about the US trucking industry. Rachel Premack contributed reporting to this article.

In 2017, the American trucking industry posted revenues higher than the GDP of more than 150 nations. Alex Wong/Getty Images In 2017, the US trucking industry generated just over $700 billion. That was more than the entire GDP of Bangladesh, and slightly less than the GDP of Colombia, according to the CIA Factbook. Were the industry a nation, it would have ranked 33rd in GDP that year.

Walmart alone employs more than 8,600 truckers Sundry Photography/Shutterstock In recent years, Walmart has been turning away from third-party contracts and employing its own truckers, including a hiring surge of more than 1,400 new drivers brought on in 2018 and hundreds more so far in 2019. Walmart truckers earn on average nearly $88,000 per year, CBS reported.

In 2017, trucks moved 10.8 billion tons of freight Matt Cardy/Getty Images According to American Trucking Associations, US trucks moved 10.8 billion tons of freight in 2017. That equates to about 30 pounds worth of goods for every man, woman, and child in the country.

And trucks move more than 70% of all goods transported around the United States David McNew/Getty Images Trucking accounts for the vast majority of freight in America, with trucks carrying almost 71% of the tonnage moved about the country. That far surpasses trains, boats, and air when it comes to moving cargo around the nation.

More than 40% of the jobs in the American trucking industry are held by minorities David McNew/Getty Images) Trucking is a surprisingly egalitarian industry, with 40.6% of all trucking jobs held by minorities. This far outpaces the national average when all jobs are compared - overall, minorities hold just 22% of jobs in this country, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Not one of the regulators charged with overseeing the trucking industry was ever a truck driver Douglas Graham/Roll Call/Getty Images The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is charged with managing the laws and regulations that control trucking in America. But not one of its four administrators has ever held a commercial driver's license or had any background in the trucking industry.

Most grocery stores would run out of food in just three days if long-haul truckers stopped driving Arnulf Stoffel/picture alliance via Getty Images It might seem like food supplies on supermarket shelves are boundless, always there when you need them. But in fact, experts predict that most grocery stores would start running out of food just three days after long-haul truckers stopped working.

Many experts think the trucking industry needs to hire 900,000 more drivers Dustin Franz/For The Washington Post via Getty Images In 2018, the American Trucking Associations released a statement saying the industry needed to hire almost 900,000 more drivers to meet the growing demands put on the industry. However, not everyone is agreement with the state of the industry. A Bureau of Labor Statistics report published earlier this year said the apparent shortage of drivers may actually be overblown.

Truck drivers earn less than most Americans in terms of annual income David Duprey/AP Photo Despite all the chatter about the growing trucking industry and the need for drivers, it's not the most lucrative line of work. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2018, the median income was about $46,800 per year, while median annual wage for truckers was $43,680.