Annual ATRI Industry Attention Survey Reveals Significant Gap Between Drivers' and Operators' Priorities
The 2024 Trucking Industry Survey conducted annually by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) reveals that issues deemed important by drivers do not entirely align with the broader industry’s concerns.
A comparison between the key issues identified by drivers and the overall survey results, which also incorporate driver opinions into the final ranking, shows that in 2024, only two issues appeared simultaneously in both the top ten lists of the overall industry and drivers: truck parking and economic conditions.
ATRI, a research arm of the American Trucking Associations, announced these findings at its annual meeting held in Nashville, Tennessee.
Economic issues were the closest match between overall respondents and driver surveys, ranking first and third respectively.
Parking was ranked number one by drivers but seventh in the overall rankings.
The final survey results are compiled through a complex weighted process that considers feedback from carriers, drivers, and “other industry stakeholders.”
Therefore, the final outcomes may reflect issues not present in the top ten list of carrier respondents but highly rated in driver surveys. This year, two such issues made it into the top ten: driver compensation and detention/delay problems.
The carrier segment accounted for 45.9% of all respondents, industry stakeholders for another 22.8%, while drivers comprised 31.3%.
ATRI’s survey methodology incorporates various weighted factors; an issue deemed particularly important by a specific group will carry more weight in the final ranking than other votes.
In addition to parking being ranked first and economic issues third, other key concerns for drivers include:
- Second – Driver compensation.
- Fourth – Customer facility detention/delay.
- Fifth – Speed limiters.
- Sixth – Broker issues.
- Seventh – ELD mandate, which went into full effect in December 2019 and is not under consideration for repeal.
- Eighth – Fuel prices, ranked second last year on the driver list.
- Ninth – Autonomous trucks.
- Tenth – Driver training standards.
Comparing these issues with carrier feedback highlights significant differences.
In addition to economic conditions being first and parking seventh, key concerns for carriers include:
- Second – Litigation reform.
- Third – Driver shortage.
- Fourth – Insurance costs/availability.
- Fifth – Driver retention.
- Sixth – Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) scores.
- Eighth – Battery electric vehicles.
- Ninth – Driver distraction.
- Tenth – Diesel technician shortage.
The top ten list derived from the combined responses is as follows:
- Economy.
- Truck parking.
- Litigation reform.
- Insurance costs/availability.
- Driver compensation.
- Battery electric vehicles.
- CSA.
- Detention/delay.
- Driver shortage.
- Driver distraction.
A comparison of the top industry issues in 2023 and 2024, whether for carriers or drivers, reflects some changes but not many. The top ten lists for both groups did not significantly change over the course of a year.
- In 2023, fuel prices were ranked fifth among carriers and third by drivers. This issue failed to make it into the carrier’s top ten this year but dropped to eighth for drivers. In September 2023, when the survey was conducted, the U.S. Department of Energy/Energy Information Administration reported weekly retail diesel prices at approximately $4.56 per gallon. A year later in September 2024, prices fell by nearly a dollar to $3.577 per gallon.
- The driver shortage issue ranked third this year among carriers and second last year. While no single data point is considered an indicator of driver supply, comments during Ryder System’s Q2 earnings call suggest that at least for Ryder, the driver market has loosened. CFO John Diez noted in the meeting that Ryder’s Dedicated division (providing transportation services to customers) “continues to benefit from favorable driver conditions as our professional drivers’ open positions and fill times continue to improve.”
- In 2024, fuel prices ranked fifth for owner-operators but did not make it into the top five for company drivers. This is unsurprising; company drivers have their fuel costs covered by employers, whereas owner-operators bear these expenses themselves and thus require freight rates that adequately compensate for fuel usage.
Each issue in the overall survey ratings comes with policy options suggested to address the stated problems, based on respondent feedback.
For truck parking, recommendations include advocating for “dedicated federal funding programs to increase truck parking capacity at critical locations; lobbying local governments to reduce regulatory hurdles for new lot construction or expansion of existing sites; and supporting states in applying for grants from the Department of Transportation to expand lots.”
Source: FreightWaves
