Commercial pickups are a large part of the U.S. vehicle population, but their statistics depend heavily on definition and measurement. The 2021 VIUS counted 53.8 million U.S. pickups, while EPA model-year data describe production, fuel economy, weight, and technology among vehicles delivered for sale.
Key Commercial Pickup Statistics
The most useful headline figures span fleet size, use, production, efficiency, and vehicle characteristics:
- 53.8 million pickups were in the U.S. truck fleet in 2021, including personal and commercial use.
- U.S. pickups averaged 9,500 miles per vehicle in 2021, according to the VIUS survey.
- The full U.S. truck fleet totaled 169.8 million vehicles in 2021, including pickups, SUVs, vans, and heavier trucks.
- The U.S. truck fleet traveled 1.9 trillion miles in 2021, across all truck categories.
- Pickups represented 14.1% of U.S. new light-duty production in model year 2024, based on vehicles delivered for sale.
- Pickup production represented 19% of U.S. light-duty production in 1994, the historical peak in the cited EPA series.
- Pickup production fell to 10% of the U.S. light-duty market in 2012, measured as production share.
- All-manufacturer pickups averaged 20.5 real-world mpg in model year 2024, according to EPA estimates.
- Battery-electric pickups represented 2% of pickup production in model year 2024 in the United States.
- EPA attributed 0.3 mpg of 2024 pickup fuel economy to battery-electric pickups, an estimate rather than a commercial-fleet result.
- Truck SUVs averaged 25.7 mpg in model year 2024, 5.2 mpg above pickups in the EPA comparison.
- The average new pickup outweighed the average new sedan or wagon by about 1,700 pounds in model year 2024, using curb weight.
- GM truck-class vehicles averaged a 60.2-square-foot footprint in model year 2024, a category that includes pickups and truck SUVs.
- Battery-electric vehicles represented 7.2% of all new light-duty production in model year 2024, across vehicle types.
- Truck tractors averaged 48,500 miles per vehicle in 2021, compared with 9,500 miles for pickups.
- The 2021 VIUS counted 2.9 million truck tractors in the United States, far fewer vehicles than the pickup population.
Contents
- Key Commercial Pickup Statistics
- Commercial Pickup Fleet Scale and Vehicle Use
- Pickup Production Trends in Commercial Vehicle Data
- Pickup Fuel Economy and Emissions Statistics
- Commercial Pickup Weight, Power, and Size
- Pickup Powertrain and Technology Adoption
- Commercial Pickups Compared With Other Truck Types
Commercial Pickup Fleet Scale and Vehicle Use
The broadest U.S. fleet benchmark comes from the 2021 Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey (VIUS). It classified vehicles by manufacturer designation and included both personal and commercial use, so the pickup total should not be read as a commercial-only fleet count.
- The 2021 VIUS estimated 53.8 million pickups in the United States.
- Pickups traveled an average of 9,500 miles per vehicle in 2021.
- The entire truck fleet totaled 169.8 million vehicles and traveled 1.9 trillion vehicle-miles in 2021.
- The truck fleet traveled 70% more miles in 2021 than in 2002, a BTS comparison for the full truck fleet rather than pickups alone.
The survey’s scale helps explain why these numbers are estimates. VIUS sampled 150,000 vehicles and received almost 68,000 completed surveys; the prior comparable survey was conducted in 2002. BTS, VIUS Summary Statistics Report
For registration statistics, BTS identifies pickups in its light-truck series as vehicles at or below 10,000 pounds GVWR. The FHWA coverage runs through 2019 in Highway Statistics table MV-9 and covers 2020–2024 in table MV-1, but those coverage statements do not themselves provide pickup counts. BTS, Number of U.S. Truck Registrations by Type
Pickup Production Trends in Commercial Vehicle Data
EPA production statistics measure model-year production volumes delivered for sale in the United States. They are not calendar-year sales and do not isolate commercial-use vehicles, but they show how pickups fit into the light-duty manufacturing mix.
| Model year or period | Pickup production share | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 19% | U.S. light-duty production peak |
| 2012 | 10% | U.S. light-duty production |
| 2022 | 16.4% | U.S.-delivered light-duty production |
| 2023 | 14.7% | U.S.-delivered light-duty production |
| 2024 | 14.1% | U.S.-delivered light-duty production |
The historical EPA series reports a 19% pickup share in 1994 and 10% in 2012. For model year 2023, truck SUVs accounted for 45% of production and car SUVs accounted for 12%; the truck regulatory class accounted for about 62%, but that class includes pickups, minivans or vans, and truck SUVs.
Within manufacturer production mixes, Ford’s pickup share was 44% in model year 2023. GM increased the pickup share of its own production mix by 12 percentage points from 2022 to 2023; neither figure is the manufacturer’s share of all U.S. pickup production.
Sources: EPA, The 2025 EPA Automotive Trends Report: Fuel Economy, and Technology since 1975 and EPA, 2024 EPA Automotive Trends Report Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Fuel Economy, and Technology since 1975. EPA uses NHTSA regulatory classes and does not treat truck SUVs or all light trucks as pickups.
Pickup Fuel Economy and Emissions Statistics
EPA’s pickup fuel-economy figures are estimated real-world averages for U.S.-delivered vehicles. They are production-weighted category measures, not results from a single commercial duty cycle.
| Model year | Pickup real-world fuel economy | Measurement scope |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 20.0 mpg | All-manufacturer pickups |
| 2023 | 20.5 mpg | All-manufacturer pickups |
| 2024 | 20.5 mpg | All-manufacturer pickups |
Pickup fuel economy increased by 0.5 mpg from model year 2022 to 2023 and then remained at 20.5 mpg in the cited 2024 estimate. EPA also reported that pickups were the only one of its five vehicle types that had not more than doubled 1975 fuel economy by model year 2023.
Battery-electric pickups accounted for 2% of pickup production in model year 2024. EPA estimated that battery-electric pickups contributed 0.3 mpg to pickup fuel economy in 2024, but this is an attribution estimate rather than a measured saving for commercial fleets.
Truck SUVs reached 25.7 mpg in model year 2024, which was 5.2 mpg above pickups in the EPA category comparison. The average new light-duty vehicle reached a record 27.2 mpg that year, and average new-vehicle fuel economy improved in 16 of the 20 years through model year 2024.
Commercial Pickup Weight, Power, and Size
Weight and footprint are useful for understanding the physical scale of modern pickups, but curb weight is not payload or GVWR, and footprint is not cargo-bed area.
- The average new pickup outweighed the average new sedan or wagon by about 1,700 pounds in model year 2024.
- The average new pickup’s curb weight was below its model year 2014 high of 5,485 pounds; the cited report does not state the exact 2024 pickup average here.
- GM’s model year 2024 vehicle mix averaged 4,685 pounds, 277 horsepower, and 7.6 seconds from zero to 60 mph across all vehicle types.
- GM’s model year 2024 vehicle mix averaged a 56.2-square-foot footprint, while GM truck-class vehicles averaged 60.2 square feet.
- Ford truck-class vehicles averaged a 57.6-square-foot footprint in model year 2024.
The all-manufacturer model year 2024 light-duty average was 4,354 pounds and 258 horsepower. Without battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, the average new vehicle would have weighed 72 pounds less, an EPA counterfactual for all new light-duty vehicles rather than a pickup-only estimate.
Pickup Powertrain and Technology Adoption
The available powertrain figures mostly describe all new U.S.-delivered light-duty vehicles rather than pickups alone. They provide context for the technologies available across the market, but they should not be relabeled as commercial-pickup adoption rates.
| Technology or category | Share or average | Period and population |
|---|---|---|
| Battery-electric vehicles | 7.2% | MY 2024, all new light-duty production |
| Battery-electric vehicles | 9.8% | Preliminary MY 2025, all new light-duty production |
| Diesel vehicles | 12.5% | MY 2024, all new light-duty production |
| Gasoline direct injection | 56.2% | MY 2024, all new light-duty production |
| Gasoline port injection | 23.3% | MY 2024, all new light-duty production |
| Turbocharged gasoline engines | 37.3% | MY 2023, all new light-duty production |
| Non-hybrid stop/start | 49.2% | MY 2023 gasoline-engine production |
Preliminary model year 2025 data put battery-electric vehicles at 9.8% of all new light-duty production, compared with 7.2% in model year 2024. The 2025 value is preliminary and should be treated as an early estimate rather than final production.
For model year 2023 gasoline-engine vehicles, the average engine had 4.9 cylinders and produced 255 horsepower. These averages cover gasoline-engine vehicles broadly, not commercial pickups specifically. EPA, The 2025 EPA Automotive Trends Report: Fuel Economy, and Technology since 1975
Commercial Pickups Compared With Other Truck Types
VIUS comparisons show that pickups are numerous but generally operate at much lower annual mileage than truck tractors. The categories serve different duty cycles, so mileage should not be interpreted as a direct measure of productivity or cost.
| 2021 VIUS category | Vehicles | Average miles per vehicle |
|---|---|---|
| Pickups | 53.8 million | 9,500 |
| Truck tractors | 2.9 million | 48,500 |
| Other heavy trucks | 1.6 million | 14,000 |
| SUVs | 93.4 million | 10,700 |
| Minivans | Not stated here | 10,100 |
Truck tractors averaged 48,500 miles per vehicle in 2021, compared with 9,500 miles for pickups. Other heavy trucks averaged 14,000 miles per vehicle, while SUVs averaged 10,700 miles and minivans averaged 10,100 miles.
The 2021 VIUS estimate of 2.9 million truck tractors and 1.6 million other heavy trucks provides scale for the comparison. It also counted 93.4 million SUVs, whose mileage figure includes personal and commercial use and therefore is not a commercial-pickup measure.
Finally, the 2021 U.S. truck fleet was approximately twice the 85.1 million vehicles reported in 2002, a rounded BTS comparison across survey years. The fleet-size comparison is for all truck categories, not pickups alone. BTS, VIUS Summary Statistics Report