Barcelona, October 19, 2023.- American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has carried out a large survey among transporters to find out what their main problems are:
Across all respondents, the Economy was selected as the top industry concern in 2023.
The lack of available Truck Parking rose one spot this year to the second ranked issue, followed by Fuel Prices. The Driver Shortage dropped two spots this year to rank fourth overall and Driver Compensation continued as a top-five industry concern, ranking fifth overall in 2023.
Driver Distraction returned to the top 10 list for the first time since 2018 as the seventh-ranked concern and Zero-Emission Vehicles entered the top 10 for the first time this year, ranking tenth overall.
On the second ranked issue, lack of truck parking, respondents would like to see the truckers advocate for a dedicated federal funding program to increase truck parking capacity at freight-critical locations.
They would also like to see efforts to push local and regional governments to reduce the regulatory burdens limiting the construction and expansion of truck parking facilities.
On the third ranked issue relative fuel prices, the report included data from respondents on use of alternative fuel trucks. The use is very low, especially when considering it could involve just a single truck in a fleet.
That noted, just 6.2% of carriers said they were using compressed natural gas (CNG), 5.1% battery electric, 2.1% liquid natural gas (LNG). No carriers said they were using hydrogen fuel cell-based trucks.
Relative to the driver shortage (fourth ranked issue), respondents recommended research on the primary factors behind drivers leaving trucking careers as the top solution. The second recommendation had to do with allowing 18-20 year old drivers on federal highways, as several states do on their own roads.
But interestingly, higher pay for drivers was not on the list of the top three solution to this issue – though the issue of driver compensation ranked as the top issue for commercial drivers, it wasn’t in the top 10 for carriers. It’s an interesting report as always. It is available here: Critical Issues in Trucking 2023
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