More than two years into a freight recession, the economy remains top of mind among trucking industry stakeholders, while truck parking maintains a top spot in the list of critical issues in trucking.
That’s according to the American Transportation Research Institute’s annual Critical Issues in the Trucking Industry report. Nearly 4,000 stakeholders weighed in on what industry problems worry them the most, including motor carrier executives, truck drivers, industry suppliers, driver trainers and law enforcement.
With the current freight recession nearing its third year, trucking industry stakeholders identified the economy as their top concern for a second consecutive year. Although the economy as a whole is improving by most measures, certain factors that directly affect the trucking industry have not. The Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate cut may change that, but the trickle-down effect may take a while.
In the meantime, trucking operational costs are rising while employment in the industry continues to decline after a surge of new entrants in the wake of the pandemic. All of this is being exacerbated by a presidential election causing economic uncertainty heading into the new year.
ATRI identified a few strategies to address economic concerns:
- Reforming and repealing ineffective and burdensome regulations that increase costs without providing benefits
- Renew 2017 federal income and corporate tax cuts that expire next year
- Re-shoring and near-shoring of equipment and parts manufacturing
At a distance second is truck parking, a problem within the trucking industry that never seems to go away.
Despite the U.S. Department of Transportation investing in truck parking, including $300 million for four projects in January, government funding has barely put a dent into solving the issue. Private sector investors have stepped up to the plate but at the cost of paid parking at facilities that have very few amenities.
One solution to the truck parking crisis is dedicated funding at the federal level. The Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act does exactly that. Meanwhile, state DOTs can tap into existing funding sources to address their parking issues. At the local level, governments can reduce regulatory hurdles that stifle truck parking expansion.
Ranking as the third-most concerning issue is tort reform. Nuclear verdicts against the trucking industry have raised concerns for several years, but a pair of massive verdicts just 24 hours apart earlier this year heightened those worries. A St. Louis jury ordered trailer manufacturer Wabash to pay $462 million. That was followed by Daimler Truck North America getting hit with a $160 million verdict for a nonfatal crash.
Trucking industry stakeholders are advocating for tort reform in several areas, including damages caps in several states. Other areas of reform include third-party litigation financing and medical costs billed versus medical costs actually paid.
Critical issues included this year that were not present last year include insurance cost/availability, battery electric vehicles and Compliance Safety Accountability. “Driver shortage” dropped several spots to ninth overall, its lowest ranking in the 20 years ATRI has conducted the survey. Ranked third last year, fuel prices are not included in this year’s list.
Drivers vs. carriers
The above list reflects critical issues identified by all trucking stakeholders. However, that list is much different when broken down by truck drivers versus motor carriers.
Most of the overall concerns are included in the list of motor carriers’ top concerns. For truck drivers, several issues pop up that are not included in the industrywide list.
For example, speed limiters are ranked fifth among truck drivers, followed by broker issues, the ELD mandate, fuel prices, autonomous trucks and driver training standards. None of those issues crack the top ten among motor carriers. While truck parking is the top concern for drivers, it is ranked only seventh among motor carriers.
Broken down further between company drivers and owner-operators, the issues are mostly consistent but the prioritization differs. The top five concerns among owner-operators include:
- Economy
- Truck parking
- Broker issues
- Speed limiters
- Fuel prices
Company drivers’ worries are:
- Driver compensation
- Truck parking
- Detention time
- Speed limiters
- Economy
Truckers can help address most of the above issues by encouraging their lawmakers to support related legislation, including current bills on the topics of electric trucks, speed limiters, truck parking, broker fraud and driver pay. Tell your lawmaker about all those bills by going to FightingForTruckers.com. LL
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