Fuel Prices Top ATRI's 2022 List of Trucking Industry Concerns
In October 2022, ATRI's annual survey ranked fuel prices as the industry's top issue, ending the driver shortage's five-year run at No. 1, and speed limiters entered the top 10 for the first time.
In October 2022, the American Transportation Research Institute released its 18th annual Top Industry Issues report, and a year of record diesel prices showed in the results. Fuel prices ranked as the trucking industry's top concern, replacing the driver shortage, which had held the No. 1 spot for five years in a row.
ATRI released the results on October 22, 2022, at the American Trucking Associations' Management Conference and Exhibition in San Diego.
The top 10
The overall ranking, according to ATRI and Truckers News, was:
- Fuel prices
- Driver shortage
- Truck parking
- Driver compensation
- The economy
- Detention and delay at customer facilities
- Driver retention
- CSA (Compliance, Safety, Accountability)
- Speed limiters
- Lawsuit abuse reform
Speed limiters made the top 10 for the first time, ranking ninth overall and fifth among commercial drivers. ATRI tied that rise to FMCSA's notice earlier in the year that it intended to pursue a speed limiter rulemaking.
Drivers and carriers saw it differently
More than 4,200 industry stakeholders took part, which ATRI said was the highest number of responses to date. About 47% were professional truck drivers and 39% were motor carrier executives.
Drivers ranked truck parking first, followed by fuel prices and driver compensation. Truckers News reported that company drivers put compensation at the top, while owner-operators led with fuel prices. Motor carriers ranked the driver shortage first, followed by driver retention and fuel prices.
"ATRI's list is a true reflection of what it was like to be a trucker this year," ATA Chairman Harold A. Sumerford Jr. said in ATRI's release.
ATRI President and COO Rebecca Brewster said the record turnout showed "how committed our industry is to identifying the most critical concerns."
How the list is built
According to the report's methodology, respondents chose their top three issues from a list of 28 and ranked strategies to address each one. ATRI gave three points for a first-place ranking, two for second and one for third, and ordered the list by total points.
What it means for drivers and fleets
The split between drivers and carriers was a familiar one. Drivers kept pointing to day-to-day conditions such as parking, pay and time lost at docks. Carriers focused on finding and keeping drivers.
For fleets, the driver rankings were a reminder that parking access, detention and compensation weighed heavily on the people behind the wheel. Those factors bear directly on retention, which carriers themselves ranked second.
Speed limiters' debut on the list, and their fifth-place ranking among drivers, also showed how closely drivers were watching FMCSA's rulemaking.