Every day, trucks move through the Inland Empire carrying food, building materials, consumer goods, equipment, medical supplies and other products that businesses and households depend on.
National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, observed September 13–19, gives Americans an opportunity to recognize the professional drivers behind those deliveries. The American Trucking Associations’ National Truck Driver Appreciation Week will hold its 38th annual observance in 2026, recognizing approximately 3.6 million professional truck drivers who deliver freight across the country.
Truck drivers may be the most visible part of that system, but they do not work alone.
Behind every truck is a business.
That business might be an owner-operator running a single truck, a small carrier building its first fleet, a repair shop keeping commercial vehicles on the road, a driver-training company preparing the next generation of professionals, or a warehouse and cross-dock operator moving freight between the highway and its final destination.
Together, these businesses support a significant part of the Inland Empire’s transportation and logistics economy.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area had 272,380 workers employed in transportation and material-moving occupations in May 2025. Those occupations represented 15.9% of local employment, compared with 8.8% nationally. The same data counted 40,230 heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in the region.
A freight economy in transition
The Inland Empire’s transportation economy remains substantial, but its industrial market has been moving through a period of adjustment after several years of exceptionally strong demand.
During the pandemic-era expansion, demand for warehouse and distribution space surged as businesses responded to changes in consumer purchasing, inventory strategies and supply chains. At the same time, developers added substantial amounts of new industrial space. As demand normalized, the market was left with more space than it could immediately absorb.
Colliers’ Inland Empire industrial research put a number on that surplus, reporting vacancy of 7.6% at the end of 2025 and availability at a 14-year high of 11.7%.
Economic and trade uncertainty also affected business decisions. In the second quarter of 2025, Colliers reported that tariff and economic uncertainty contributed to a sharp slowdown in leasing activity as tenants delayed long-term commitments.
The market has since begun to show signs of finding a new balance. Vacancy climbed to 8.1% in the first quarter of 2026 before easing to 7.8% in the second, according to Colliers, as tenants moved into 3.1 million more square feet than they vacated, reversing a 3.6 million square foot decline the previous quarter. Second-quarter gross industrial activity reached 16.7 million square feet, the highest quarterly total in Colliers’ records. CBRE, which tracks a narrower core market that excludes the High Desert, reported vacancy of 7.4%, down from 7.8% in the first quarter.
For the small businesses operating within this freight network, a changing market does not eliminate the need to make capital decisions. A carrier still needs reliable trucks and trailers. A repair business still needs the equipment and space to serve its customers. A warehouse operator still needs functional facilities, loading areas and material-handling equipment.
Those needs can arise whether a business is adding its second truck, replacing aging equipment or deciding that owning its operating facility makes sense for the long term.
From one truck to a business
For some transportation entrepreneurs, the business starts with a single truck.
An owner-operator may eventually see an opportunity to add a second vehicle and take on additional contracts, but expanding the business also brings greater financial responsibility. Equipment costs increase, along with payroll, insurance and maintenance expenses. Cash flow can become less predictable when those costs come due before customers pay their invoices.
Similar growth decisions arise throughout the freight ecosystem.
A small carrier may need additional trailers or specialized equipment. A repair business may need diagnostic equipment, lifts or a larger facility. A driver-training school may need vehicles and classroom space. A warehouse operator may need material-handling equipment, facility improvements or additional capacity.
Each decision has financial consequences, which is why financing should match the business’s stage, structure and intended investment.
Working capital can matter as much as equipment
Transportation businesses often have substantial expenses that cannot be postponed simply because revenue is uneven.
Fuel has to be purchased. Employees have to be paid. Trucks require maintenance. Insurance and other operating expenses continue whether a particular customer has paid an invoice or not.
For businesses that need capital for working expenses, equipment, inventory or other eligible uses, AmPac Business Capital’s SBA 7(a) Community Advantage program offers financing of up to $350,000. AmPac also offers other lending programs for different capital needs, including community loans for working capital, equipment and inventory, as well as SBA 504 financing for eligible major fixed assets such as owner-occupied commercial real estate and certain long-term equipment.
The appropriate financing depends on the business, its needs and the investment it is preparing to make.
For the miles they drive
National Truck Driver Appreciation Week ultimately brings the focus back to the people behind the wheel.
The American Trucking Associations notes that nearly every aspect of daily life depends on goods and resources delivered by truck. The drivers making those deliveries take on long hours, time away from home and the responsibility of moving people and products safely across the country.
This week, we recognize the drivers who take on that responsibility every day.
We also recognize the small businesses that make their work possible, from the companies operating trucks and maintaining equipment to the businesses providing training, warehousing and other essential services.
The Inland Empire’s freight economy depends on all of them.
For the miles they drive, the time they spend away from home and the work they do to keep goods moving, we thank America’s professional truck drivers.