Driver shortage tops list of trucking industry concerns

Posted October 24, 2017

For the first time in more than a decade, the driver shortage has topped the list of trucking industry concerns for 2017, narrowly edging the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate from the top spot.

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) says its top 10 list of critical issues facing the trucking industry for this year is based on nearly 1,600 survey responses.

The driver shortage surged six spots in the annual survey; it last topped the list in 2006. The ELD mandate first appeared on the list in 2012 and surged to the top in 2016. It remains the number one issue among commercial drivers who responded to the ATRI survey, but fell to the second spot overall.

An issue that first appeared in the top 10 last year, the cumulative economic impact of government regulations, fell to number seven.

Among drivers, concern about autonomous vehicles drove its way into the top 10 but was not as highly ranked among motor carriers.

The following is ATRI’s top 10 list for 2017:

1. Driver shortage
2. ELD mandate
3. Hours of service
4. Truck parking
5. Driver retention
6. CSA
7. Cumulative economic impact of trucking regulations
8. Driver distraction
9. Transportation infrastructure/congestion/funding
10. Driver health and wellness

The ATRI Top Industry Issues report, which also contains strategies for addressing each issue, is available online at www.TruckingResearch.org.

The survey results were released at the 2017 American Trucking Associations' Management Conference and Exhibition in Orlando, Florida.

This article was written by Kathy Close of J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.

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