ATRI Releases Top Industry Issues

The American Transportation Research Institute has come out with its list of the top ten issues for the trucking industry in 2015.  This is the eleventh year ATRI has compiled such a list, which it derives from a survey of hundreds of motor carriers throughout the U.S.  To us, the items on this year’s list seem to reflect the industry’s overriding concerns with government regulation and with finding enough truck drivers.  The most important issue, ATRI found, was the hours-of-service rules, which have headed the list now for three years running.  Second was the design and implementation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s CSA program.  Issues three and four – closely related – are the driver shortage and driver retention, and number five, also driver-related, was truck parking.  The next two also concern drivers:  the coming mandate for electronic logging devices and driver health and wellness.  The ELD mandate, of course, will affect the industry much more broadly than just in its workforce, but it is expected to make the driver shortage worse in the short run.  The eighth issue is the economy, the ninth the need for better funding of roads and the growing problem of traffic congestion, and the tenth issue is driver distraction.  To get the full ATRI report, go to www.atri-online.org.