SAN DIEGO, Calif — For the third consecutive year, the state of the economy remains trucking’s top industry concern.
The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) is releasing its 21st annual Top Industry Issues report that identifies the trucking industry’s leading issues.
This year’s top five trucking industry concerns include:
The list also debuts several first-time issues including English Language Proficiency for drivers and Artificial Intelligence in trucking, among others.
“We’re in the third year of this extended freight recession and the pain is real,” said Andy Owens, A&M Transport president. “Operating costs climbed to their highest ever at the same time that freight pricing has bottomed out. ATRI’s annual analysis is so critical for our industry to not only quantify the issues, but more importantly, to understand what we can collectively do as an industry to address each.”
Deeper Dive into Top Issues
“While the Economy retained its #1 spot, Lawsuit Abuse Reform and Insurance Cost and Availability each rose one spot, to be the #2 and #3 top concerns, respectively,” ATRI said. “The lack of available Truck Parking dropped two spots this year to the #4 concern and Driver Compensation held on to its #5 position.”
Driver Training Standard had been on the list of truck driver concerns since 2019, but this year garnered enough votes across all respondents to become the #9 overall top concern. Among truck driver respondents, it was ranked 7th.
Over 46 percent of the survey respondents were motor carrier executives and personnel. Truck drivers represented 30 percent, with the remaining 23 percent made up of other freight stakeholders. Among truck driver respondents, Driver Compensation, Truck Parking and English Language Proficiency were the top three concerns, while motor carriers ranked the Economy, Lawsuit Abuse Reform, and Insurance Cost and Availability as their top three concerns.
Over 4,200 trucking industry stakeholders participated in this year’s survey, a 14 percent increase over the 2024 survey. Respondents included motor carriers, truck drivers, industry suppliers, driver trainers and law enforcement, among other groups.
The complete results of the annual survey were released as part of 2025 American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference and Exhibition. The full report can be found here.
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
