Heavy-duty pickups sit within a much broader U.S. truck market, so the available statistics require careful definitions. EPA pickup figures generally cover new pickups as a regulatory vehicle type, while FHWA travel figures use broad vehicle classes and DOE’s medium/heavy-truck fuel-economy data explicitly excludes pickups.
Key Heavy Duty Pickup Statistics
The most useful figures across production, performance, powertrains, and operating context are:
- In model year 2024, 66% of U.S. new-vehicle production was in the EPA truck regulatory class.
- In model year 2024, almost 50% of U.S. new-vehicle production was truck SUVs.
- In the latest report period, 60% of U.S. vehicles produced were SUVs of either EPA type.
- In 2023, rural roads carried 1,008,560 million vehicle-miles by all motor vehicles in the United States.
- In 2023, rural light-duty vehicles traveled 583,478 million vehicle-miles in the United States.
- In model year 2024, new EPA pickups averaged 20.5 mpg in real-world fuel economy in the United States.
- Between model years 2023 and 2024, pickup fuel economy remained 20.5 mpg for the U.S. new-pickup fleet.
- In model year 2024, new pickups excluding battery-electric and plug-in-hybrid models averaged 20.3 mpg.
- In model year 2024, battery-electric vehicles represented 2% of new EPA pickups in the United States.
- In model year 2024, the average new vehicle produced 258 horsepower in the United States.
- For preliminary model year 2025, average new-vehicle horsepower was projected at 264 hp in the United States.
- Between model years 1975 and 2024, pickup horsepower increased 138% in the EPA pickup category.
- Between model years 2004 and 2024, average new-vehicle weight increased 6% in the United States.
- Between model years 2008 and 2024, average new-vehicle footprint increased 5% in the United States.
- Between model years 2004 and 2024, average new-vehicle real-world fuel economy increased 41% across the U.S. new-vehicle fleet.
- In 2023, rural single-unit trucks traveled 50,279 million vehicle-miles in the United States.
- In 2023, rural combination trucks traveled 106,865 million vehicle-miles in the United States.
- In 2021, medium/heavy-truck body types averaged between 4.0 and 10.1 mpg in the United States, excluding pickups, SUVs, and light vans.
Contents
- Market scale and production trends
- Fuel economy and horsepower data
- Weight, footprint, and design trends
- Electrification and powertrain statistics
- Travel and use statistics
- Safety and adjacent heavy-truck operating context
Heavy Duty Pickup Market Scale and Production Trends
EPA’s 2025 Automotive Trends Report places pickups inside a large truck-oriented production mix, but its regulatory definitions do not isolate heavy-duty pickups. In model year 2024, truck regulatory-class vehicles accounted for 66% of U.S. new-vehicle production, an all-time-high production share for that class. EPA, 2025 Automotive Trends Report
| EPA production category | Model year 2024 result | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Truck regulatory class | 66% | U.S. new-vehicle production |
| Truck SUVs | Almost 50% | U.S. new-vehicle production |
| Both SUV types | 60% | U.S. vehicles produced |
Truck SUVs represented almost 50% of all new-vehicle production, and SUVs of both EPA types together accounted for 60% of vehicles produced in the report’s latest period. These categories demonstrate the scale of truck-shaped vehicles, but neither percentage is a heavy-duty-pickup-only share.
FHWA’s 2023 rural-road data provides a separate measure of operating scale. All motor vehicles recorded 1,008,560 million vehicle-miles on rural roads, including 583,478 million light-duty vehicle-miles, 50,279 million single-unit-truck vehicle-miles, and 106,865 million combination-truck vehicle-miles. FHWA, Table VM-1 — Highway Statistics 2023
Heavy Duty Pickup Fuel Economy and Horsepower Data
EPA estimated average real-world fuel economy for new EPA pickups at 20.5 mpg in model year 2024, unchanged from model year 2023. Excluding battery-electric and plug-in-hybrid pickups, the model-year-2024 result was 20.3 mpg, showing that the published pickup average reflects the fleet’s powertrain mix. EPA, 2025 Automotive Trends Report
| Vehicle type or measure | Result | Period |
|---|---|---|
| EPA pickups | 20.5 mpg | MY 2024 |
| EPA pickups | 20.5 mpg | MY 2023–2024 comparison |
| Pickups excluding BEV/PHEV | 20.3 mpg | MY 2024 |
| Truck SUVs | 25.7 mpg | MY 2024 |
| Vans | 26.1 mpg | MY 2024 |
EPA attributed a 0.3-mpg pickup fuel-economy difference to a model-year-2024 mix in which 2% of pickups were battery-electric and none were plug-in hybrids. This is an estimated fleet-average attribution, not a controlled vehicle-level test.
Power increased sharply over the long historical series. Pickup horsepower rose 138% between model years 1975 and 2024, while the average new vehicle reached 258 hp in 2024; EPA’s preliminary or projected model-year-2025 average was 264 hp. EPA, 2025 Automotive Trends Report
The fleetwide average new vehicle produced 137 hp in 1975 and 102 hp in 1981, before reaching 258 hp in 2024. That 2024 average was 88% above 1975 and 153% above 1981, although these comparisons describe all new vehicles rather than heavy-duty pickups alone.
Heavy Duty Pickup Weight, Footprint, and Design Trends
EPA’s long-run design measures show that new vehicles became heavier and larger while also becoming more efficient on average. Between model years 2004 and 2024, overall average new-vehicle weight increased 6%, and between model years 2008 and 2024, average footprint increased 5%. EPA, 2025 Automotive Trends Report
Over the same 2004–2024 period, overall average new-vehicle real-world fuel economy increased 41%. This is a fleetwide result affected by vehicle mix and technology, so it should not be read as a heavy-duty-pickup-only improvement.
| EPA vehicle type | Horsepower change, MY 1975–2024 | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Pickups | 138% | Broad EPA pickup category |
| Car SUVs | 118% | Related vehicle type |
| Minivans/vans | 82% | Related vehicle type |
| Truck SUVs | 77% | Related vehicle type |
| Sedans/wagons | 54% | Related vehicle type |
Pickup horsepower had the largest increase among the five EPA vehicle types listed in the report. The comparison is useful for understanding design and capability trends, but EPA’s pickup category includes light-duty pickups and is not a heavy-duty-only series.
Heavy Duty Pickup Electrification and Powertrain Statistics
Electrification was present but limited in the EPA pickup mix for model year 2024. Battery-electric vehicles represented 2% of pickups, while plug-in hybrids represented 0%; the figures describe the U.S. new-pickup vehicle-type mix rather than registrations or the installed vehicle population. EPA, 2025 Automotive Trends Report
| EPA vehicle type | BEV share | PHEV share | Model year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pickups | 2% | 0% | MY 2024 |
| Truck SUVs | 4% | 4% | MY 2024 |
| Car SUVs | 30% | 3% | MY 2024 |
The report associated the 2% BEV pickup mix with a 0.3-mpg increase versus an otherwise non-electrified comparison. EPA describes this as a fleet-mix effect and does not isolate vehicle-level causality.
Truck SUVs had 4% BEV and 4% PHEV shares in model year 2024, associated with a 1.0-mpg increase versus 2023. Car SUVs had 30% BEV and 3% PHEV shares, associated with a 9.0-mpg increase versus 2023; both are adjacent categories rather than heavy-duty pickups.
Heavy Duty Pickup Travel and Use Statistics
FHWA’s rural-road table separates travel by road type and broad vehicle class. In 2023, light-duty vehicles recorded 141,502 million vehicle-miles on rural interstates, 232,915 million on other rural arterials, and 209,061 million on other rural roads. FHWA, Table VM-1 — Highway Statistics 2023
| Rural roadway category | Light-duty vehicles | Single-unit trucks | Combination trucks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rural interstates | 141,502 million | 11,957 million | 59,441 million |
| Other rural arterials | 232,915 million | 19,890 million | 33,536 million |
| Other rural roads | 209,061 million | 18,432 million | 13,888 million |
All figures in the table are 2023 U.S. vehicle-miles. FHWA’s light-duty, single-unit, and combination-truck classes are broader than heavy-duty pickups, so the table describes the road-use environment rather than pickup counts.
Rural light-duty vehicle travel fell from 600,160 million vehicle-miles in 2022 to 583,478 million in 2023. The comparison covers FHWA’s light-duty category on all rural roads and should not be interpreted as a measured decline for heavy-duty pickups alone.
Heavy Duty Pickup Safety and Adjacent Heavy-Truck Operating Context
The available heavy-truck fuel-economy data is not a pickup dataset. DOE and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics explicitly exclude pickups, SUVs, and light vans from the 2021 medium/heavy-truck body-type comparison, making these figures adjacent operating context rather than heavy-duty-pickup results. DOE, FOTW #1342
Average on-road fuel economy among the included medium/heavy truck body types ranged from 4.0 to 10.1 mpg in 2021. Full-size vans recorded the highest reported value at 10.1 mpg, garbage trucks averaged 4.5 mpg, and concrete mixers recorded the lowest value at 4.0 mpg.
| Medium/heavy body type | Average on-road fuel economy | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Full-size vans | 10.1 mpg | 2021 |
| Garbage trucks | 4.5 mpg | 2021 |
| Concrete mixers | 4.0 mpg | 2021 |
FHWA’s 2023 rural-road table also recorded 106,865 million combination-truck vehicle-miles versus 50,279 million single-unit-truck vehicle-miles. That difference is a direct subtraction of two FHWA table entries, and neither category is heavy-duty-pickup-specific.
Together, these statistics define the limits of comparison: EPA supplies the strongest quantified new-pickup trends, FHWA measures broad roadway travel, and DOE supplies excluded-pickup heavy-truck context. Reading the categories as interchangeable would overstate what the underlying measurements establish.