As the national average price of on-highway diesel topped $6.50 in September, it's no surprise that fuel prices were cited as leading concerns by truckers and motor carriers in a national survey announced today.
Truckers -- both company drivers and owner-operators -- ranked fuel prices as their number one concern when the American Transportation Research Institute's released its 22nd annual Top Industry Issues report. The results were announced at the American Trucking Association's annual Management Conference & Exhibition in Charlotte.
Truck drivers' top 10 issues include:
- Fuel prices
- Truck parking
- Driver compensation
- Autonomous trucks
- English language proficiency for drivers
- Articifial intelligence in trucking
- Detention/Delay at customers' facilities
- Broker issues
- Diesel emissions regulations
- Hours of service
Truck drivers represented 26% of survey respondents.
There was a divide on critical issues between company drivers and owner-operators.
Company drivers' top five issues were:
- Driver compensation
- Truck parking
- Autonomous trucks
- Artificial intelligence in trucking
- English language proficiency for drivers
For owner-operators, the top five were:
- Fuel prices
- Truck parking
- Broker issues
- Diesel emissions regulations
- English language proficiency for drivers
Motor carriers, which made up 48% of respondents, had rather different issues of concern. Their top 10 issues were:
- Lawsuit abuse reform
- Fuel prices
- Driver shortage
- Insurance cost/availability
- CSA
- Driver retention
- Economy
- Diesel emissions regulations
- Driver compensation
- Driver distraction
The combined ranking in this, ATRI's 22nd annual survey of trucking's top issues of concern, found the top 10 issues to be:
Fuel prices
Lawsuit abuse reform
CSA
Insurance cost/availability
Driver shortage
Economy
Artificial intelligence in trucking
Diesel emissions regulations
Driver compensation
Driver retention
"Clearly these rankings are influenced by the day-to-day experiences of drivers and motor carriers. The divergence of opinions between these two groups can provide deeper insight and context into the consequences of an industry issue," said ATRI in its report.
Fuel prices have only made the top 10 list of industry concerns twice in the last 10 years. They were ranked as the top issue overall in 2022 and third in 2023. The cost of fuel has been in the top 10 two other times in the 22 years ATRI has been doing the survey.
After holding on to the number one spot on the list for three years in a row, the economy dropped down to sixth place overall, reflecting some cautious optimism on the part of motor carriers, according to ATRI. Given some positive signs in the economy, this year’s list saw workforce issues come back into the top 10, including the driver shortage, driver retention, and driver compensation making the overall list.
Two issues that debuted on the 2025 list have remained top 10 concerns again this year: artificial intelligence in trucking and diesel emissions regulations.
“Just as we started to see some positive signs in the freight economy, the cost of diesel topped $6.50 per gallon,” said Ben Banks, TCW President. “With operating costs continuing to climb overall, this spike in fuel costs is particularly painful for small- to mid-size fleets."
ATRI said nearly 3,100 trucking industry stakeholders participated in this year’s survey. Respondents included motor carriers, truck drivers, industry suppliers, driver trainers and law enforcement, among other groups.
Law enforcement officers had their say in the survey. Their top issues included:
Electronic logging device fraud
CSA
Driver distraction
English language proficiency for drivers
Hours of service
The full report can be found on ATRI's website here.
