This is a meaningless stat without comparison. There are nearly 500k trucking companies operating in the US, with ~91% operating 10 trucks or fewer.
16 companies seems like standard churn (if not a significantly lower than what I'd expect in a low margin business like trucking).
Yeah this feels like what I call the "scientific method for journalists". Step 1: create a hypothesis Step 2: google for evidence supporting that hypothesis Step 3: write an article about how it's definitely happening
A statistic is propaganda if it is a value without a percentage, or a percentage without a value.