Economy is Trucking Industry's Top Concern

The 21st annual Top Industry Issues, issued on Oct. 26 from the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI),  explored issues such as economy, lawsuit abuse reform, insurance cost and availability, and truck parking.

The list also debuts four first-time issues, including English Language Proficiency for Drivers and Artificial Intelligence in Trucking.

“We’re in the third year of this extended freight recession and the pain is real,” said Andy Owens, A&M Transport President, in a statement. “Operating costs climbed to their highest ever at the same time that freight pricing has bottomed out. ATRI’s annual analysis is so critical for our industry to not only quantify the issues, but more importantly, to understand what we can collectively do as an industry to address each.”

Economy retained its #1 spot, Lawsuit Abuse Reform and Insurance Cost and Availability each rose one spot, to be the #2 and #3 top concerns, respectively. The lack of available Truck Parking dropped two spots this year to the #4 concern and Driver Compensation held on to its #5 position. 

Driver Training Standard had been on the list of truck driver concerns since 2019, but this year garnered enough votes across all respondents to become the #9 overall top concern. Among truck driver respondents, it was ranked 7th. 

Over 46% of the survey respondents were motor carrier executives and personnel, truck drivers represented 30%, with the remaining 23% made up of other freight stakeholders. Among truck driver respondents, Driver Compensation, Truck Parking and English Language Proficiency were the top three concerns, while motor carriers ranked the Economy, Lawsuit Abuse Reform, and Insurance Cost and Availability as their top three concerns. 

Over 4,200 trucking industry stakeholders participated in this year’s survey, a 14% increase over the 2024 survey. Respondents included motor carriers, truck drivers, industry suppliers, driver trainers, and law enforcement, among other groups.