If horsepower can be directly correlated to the strength of your average work horse, Kentucky has enough horses to test your truck on the open highway. But if you drive a truck with, say 600 horsepower, keep in mind that even in tandem, that’s a string of horses nearly a half-mile long. Indeed, horses are all the talk in Kentucky, but trucking isn’t far behind. Few can plan on a truck driver job hauling racehorses, but there is plenty more to Kentucky’s trucking industry. While some truck driving jobs are agriculture-related, if you’re driving out of state, you’re unlikely to be hauling harvested crops or livestock — unless, that is, you consider whiskey an agricultural product. In any case, with Louisville being just south of Indianapolis, Kentucky is an excellent state if you need to reach other areas of the country. Interstates galore head in most any direction you desire, but if you’re looking for overnight parking, be sure to call ahead. A rig and 600 horses don’t fit well in an interstate parking area!
Geographic Advantages
Situated in the east central U.S., “The Bluegrass State” has plenty manufacturers producing products and many truck driver jobs to fill so the products can be shipped to their destination. Kentucky has large cities and mountainous rural areas, and on the west end of the state, trucks cross the Mississippi River headed for St. Louis and Chicago to the north and West Memphis, Arkansas, and its junctions of interstates to the south, not to mention New Orleans. Wherever your truck driving job takes you, Kentucky is a great place to start.
Bordering States/Countries
Kentucky border Tennessee to the south; Virginia and West Virginia to the east; Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois to the north; and Missouri to the west. All of these states provide major thoroughfares to most any destination in the U.S.
As the U.S. economy experiences is ups and downs, Kentucky plays a vital role in supplying the nation with a variety of products, including necessities. As proof of Kentucky’s importance to the trucking industry and those holding truck driver jobs, Louisville has played host to the Mid-America Trucking Show for a half-century. With over a million square feet of exhibits, a thousand exhibitors, and 72,000 attendees, the show is among the largest in the nation, and those seeking truck driver jobs will find a recruiter in any direction they turn.
Products Moved by Trucks
When it comes to truck driver jobs, Kentucky offers a variety of industries in which a driver can specialize as well as a large number of companies and carriers offering truck driver jobs. Historically, agriculture has played a huge role in the Kentucky economy, but in the 21st century, high-tech industry has quickly been gaining on crop and livestock production. Whether products are exported out of state, out of the country, or simply remain in the state for the use of those living in Kentucky, according to the latest data from World’s Top Exports, the following are the primary products moved by truck drivers and offering many truck driving jobs to those calling Kentucky home:
- Aircraft including engines, parts
- Antisera, other blood fractions
- Medium-size diesel-powered trucks
- Large automobiles (piston engine): $556 million (1.7%)
- Mid-sized automobiles (piston engine)
- Whiskies
- Small automobiles (piston engine)
- Artificial body parts
- Non-pharmaceutical composite diagnostic/laboratory reagents
- Cell phones
Kentucky Highways
Kentucky has 6 interstate highways and another 6 auxiliary interstates within its borders, all of which connect to major routes across the country in most any directions. Interstate highways within Kentucky total 1,050 of the state’s 167,000 lane miles of roadway and include:
I-24 (east-west) at Illinois state line near Paducah to Tennessee state line near Oak Grove
I-64 (east-west) at West Virginia border near Catlettsburg to the Indiana State Line at Louisville
I-655 (north-south) at Indiana border at Louisville to Tennessee border near Franklin
I-71 (north-south) from Louisville to the Ohio state line
I-75 (north-south) at Tennessee border near Williamsburg to Covington
Auxiliary interstate around larger cities
For more information on Kentucky and its truck driver jobs, visit kytrucking.net