A survey has found that leading industry concerns are fuel prices, the driver shortage, truck parking, driver compensation, the economy and for the first time, speed limiters.
The poll has been conducted annually for the past 18 years by the American Transportation Research Institute, which is the nonprofit research arm of American Trucking Associations.
“High fuel prices and finding drivers were two of our industry’s biggest challenges – challenges made more difficult by the economy and the continued lack of truck parking. said ATA Chairman Harold A. Sumerford Jr. “Thankfully, ATRI doesn’t just tell us what the issues are, it provides a number of possible solutions that decision makers can use to address them.”
With the release earlier this year of the Department of Transportation speed limiter rulemaking, that topic was ranked in the top 10 this year for the first time, coming in ninth overall and fifth among commercial driver respondents.
Over 47% of the survey respondents were professional truck drivers and 39% were motor carrier executives. Among driver respondents, truck parking, fuel prices and driver compensation were the Top Three concerns, while motor carriers ranked the driver shortage, driver retention and fuel prices as their Top Three concerns.
More than 4,200 trucking industry stakeholders participated in this year’s survey, including motor carriers, truck drivers, industry suppliers, driver trainers, law enforcement, and others. “This year’s survey had the highest number of responses to date,” noted ATRI President and Chief Operating Officer Rebecca Brewster.
A copy of the full report can be found on ATRI’s website.
