Fuel costs top list of trucking industry issues

From ATRI.

The American Transportation Research Institute, the trucking industry’s not-for-profit research organization, released its 18th annual Top Industry Issues report, identifying the leading industry concerns including fuel prices, the driver shortage, truck parking, driver compensation, the economy and for the first time, speed limiters.

“ATRI’s list is a true reflection of what it was like to be a trucker this year,” said ATA Chairman Harold A. Sumerford Jr. “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. 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.”

In a year that saw record-high fuel costs, Fuel Prices were ranked as the top industry concern, replacing the Driver Shortage, which had been the number one issue for five years in a row. This year, the Driver Shortage was the second-ranked issue, followed by the lack of available Truck Parking. Rounding out the top five this year were Driver Compensation and the Economy.

With the release earlier this year of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Notice of Intent to enter into a speed limiter rulemaking in 2023, Speed Limiters ranked in the top ten this year for the first time, coming in ninth overall and fifth among commercial driver respondents.

See the complete release from ATRI online.