Report: Economy is Top Concern In Trucking Industry

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) released its annual report on the top issues in the trucking world, with a new leader in the clubhouse: the economy. 

ATRI attributed the top ranking to “high inflation, rising operating costs, and declining freight demand” in a release. The results were culled from over 4,000 submitted surveys from various industry stakeholders. 

Rounding out the overall top five were truck parking, fuel prices (last year’s top concern), driver shortage and driver compensation. Zero-emission vehicles made its debut on the list, coming in at 10th overall. 

Digging a little deeper into the results, drivers ranked driver compensation, truck parking and fuel prices as their top three concerns, while motor carriers ranked the economy, driver shortage and lawsuit abuse reform in their top three. 

“ATRI’s list thoroughly and accurately reflects the challenges we’ve faced this year,” stated Dan Van Alstine, American Trucking Association chairman.  “Costs were up and demand was down, all while we worked to navigate a number of workforce and regulatory issues.”