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Written by Stacker

In many parts of the country, you can’t drive on an interstate without spotting a semitruck. But have you ever wondered where they are hauling all that stuff?

Truck Parking Club used Bureau of Transportation Statistics data to identify the top 20 destinations of freight from Massachusetts as part of a broader national analysis. The analysis only includes domestic freight.

Most of the time, semis are headed somewhere within the same state. In all but one, the highest share of freight was delivered to other destinations within its own borders. The only exception was Rhode Island, which is the smallest U.S. state by area, leaving few possible in-state destinations for freight.

The average haul length has been decreasing for years as e-commerce—Amazon in particular—has normalized speedy and frequent deliveries. These days, regional warehouses and distribution centers are more widespread so trucks don’t have to move goods as far to get them to local stores or individuals. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this trend, causing severe supply-chain disruptions, panic buying, and driving up online purchasing.

Nationally, Texas and California are the most common domestic freight destinations. These two states are major economic centers of the U.S. as the most populous in the nation with the largest state gross domestic product. Texas and California each offer huge consumer markets, major production centers, and abundant trade with international markets, making them obvious destinations for freight from across the country.

Trucks are the most prevalent shipping method in the U.S. and most commonly transport goods including construction materials, gas and oil, food and agricultural products, and waste. Read on to see where semitrucks in Massachusetts are headed.

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#20. Michigan

– Value of freight: $2.9 billion
– Share of domestic freight originating in Massachusetts: 0.8%

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#19. Virginia

– Value of freight: $3.4 billion
– Share of domestic freight originating in Massachusetts: 1.0%

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#18. Tennessee

– Value of freight: $3.5 billion
– Share of domestic freight originating in Massachusetts: 1.0%

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#17. Georgia

– Value of freight: $3.6 billion
– Share of domestic freight originating in Massachusetts: 1.0%

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#16. Vermont

– Value of freight: $4.0 billion
– Share of domestic freight originating in Massachusetts: 1.1%

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#15. Indiana

– Value of freight: $4.3 billion
– Share of domestic freight originating in Massachusetts: 1.2%

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#14. Illinois

– Value of freight: $4.5 billion
– Share of domestic freight originating in Massachusetts: 1.3%

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#13. North Carolina

– Value of freight: $4.6 billion
– Share of domestic freight originating in Massachusetts: 1.3%

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#12. Ohio

– Value of freight: $6.0 billion
– Share of domestic freight originating in Massachusetts: 1.7%

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#11. New Jersey

– Value of freight: $6.5 billion
– Share of domestic freight originating in Massachusetts: 1.8%

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#10. Florida

– Value of freight: $7.1 billion
– Share of domestic freight originating in Massachusetts: 2.0%

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#9. Pennsylvania

– Value of freight: $7.1 billion
– Share of domestic freight originating in Massachusetts: 2.0%

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#8. Rhode Island

– Value of freight: $7.6 billion
– Share of domestic freight originating in Massachusetts: 2.2%

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#7. Maine

– Value of freight: $8.4 billion
– Share of domestic freight originating in Massachusetts: 2.4%

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#6. California

– Value of freight: $10.7 billion
– Share of domestic freight originating in Massachusetts: 3.0%

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#5. Texas

– Value of freight: $11.3 billion
– Share of domestic freight originating in Massachusetts: 3.2%

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#4. Connecticut

– Value of freight: $18.6 billion
– Share of domestic freight originating in Massachusetts: 5.3%

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#3. New York

– Value of freight: $24.6 billion
– Share of domestic freight originating in Massachusetts: 7.0%

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#2. New Hampshire

– Value of freight: $30.4 billion
– Share of domestic freight originating in Massachusetts: 8.6%

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#1. Massachusetts

– Value of freight: $153.1 billion
– Share of domestic freight originating in Massachusetts: 43.4%

This story features data reporting and writing by Paxtyn Merten and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 50 states and Washington D.C.

This story originally appeared on Truck Parking Club and was produced and
distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.

HOUSTON – A judge approved the sale of five Massachusetts hospitals owned by Steward Health Care on Wednesday during a long-awaited bankruptcy hearing in Texas.

Wednesday’s hearing had previously been postponed several times, which forced the state to spend millions of dollars to keep the medical centers open.

The hospitals that were sold are St. Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton, Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Morton Hospital in Taunton and Holy Family Hospital’s locations in Methuen and Haverhill.

Steward closed Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer on Saturday.

The Archdiocese of Boston had concerns about the sale, asking for the new owners to remove symbols of Catholic identity if they don’t plan to operate as Catholic health care facilities.

Wednesday’s hearing was held in Houston, Texas.

Steward filed for bankruptcy reorganization in May and began exploring plans to sell dozens of hospitals it owned across the country.

CBS News reported earlier this year that federal prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney’s office in Boston are investigating Steward Health Care based on allegations that include fraud and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

“A bright new day for healthcare workers”

The Massachusetts Nurses Association, which represents more than 2,800 registered nurses working in hospitals impacted by the Steward crisis, said it has already had conversations with the new operators.

“This is a long-awaited and very positive development for the communities and dedicated workforce at these facilities and we look forward to working with all parties to ensure a smooth transition for these facilities to new operators in the coming days and weeks,” the MNA said in a statement.

Tim Foley, Executive Vice President at 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, said “It’s a bright new day for healthcare workers and our patients.”

“With Steward finally on its way out of Massachusetts, the critical work of transitioning the hospitals to their new owners can begin,” Foley said in a statement. “Throughout this complicated process, patient safety and workers’ rights need to be protected, and new investments will be needed to help stabilize our fragile hospitals and their vital workforces.” 

Steward CEO will not testify

Ralph de la Torre, the CEO of Steward, was ordered to testify at a hearing in Washington next week led by a bipartisan group of senators looking into his bankrupt company. Instead, on Wednesday de la Torre responded to the subpoena with a scathing letter from his attorney, saying the senators appeared “determined to turn the hearing into a pseudo-criminal proceeding in which they use the time, not to gather facts, but to convict Dr. de la Torre in the eyes of public opinion.”

Gov. Maura Healey used the new powers afforded to her under law and picked the retired second-in-command of the New Jersey State Police to take over as the next superintendent and colonel of the Massachusetts State Police.

Geoffrey Noble, who retired as New Jersey State Police lieutenant colonel in 2022 and has been working as a regional president for a private security firm since, will take over command of the MSP in October, Healey’s office announced Wednesday afternoon.

Healey is the first governor able to take advantage of a provision of the 2020 policing reform law allowing the State Police colonel to be hired from outside of the department’s current ranks.

“Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey Noble has dedicated his career to public service, rising to the highest levels of the New Jersey State Police and delivering results on some of the most pressing issues facing law enforcement. He is a principled, respected leader who is widely praised for his integrity, compassion and ability to bring people together,” Healey said. “I’m confident that he is the leader that our hardworking State Police team and the people of Massachusetts deserve.”

The State Police has been under the leadership of Interim Col. John Mawn Jr. since Col. Christopher Mason retired in February 2023. Healey praised Mawn on Wednesday as “a model for all of the men and women of the Massachusetts State Police and for the generations of troopers to follow.”

The State Police has been in the spotlight of controversy numerous times in recent years, with concerns about the force’s culture given new life this summer when a trooper’s crude text messages were read aloud on the stand during the widely-watched Karen Read murder trial. Healey said last year that she was looking for someone with “integrity and managerial competence” to lead the department on a more permanent basis.

Noble joined the New Jersey State Police in 1995, following two years as a summer police officer in Nantucket, according to Healey’s office. His time in New Jersey included stints as a uniformed patrol officer, a field training officer, detective, commander of the New Jersey attorney general’s Shooting Response Team, commander of the Forensic and Technical Services Section, chief of staff for the entire agency, and as deputy superintendent from 2018 to 2022.

Since 2022, Noble has been working for Inter-Con Security Systems, Inc. He was raised in Rhode Island and spent much of his childhood on Cape Cod, Healey’s office said.