Price of Gas Ranks as Trucking’s High Concern in ATRI 2022 Survey

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SAN DIEGO — Gas costs overtook the driving force scarcity as the highest difficulty of concern expressed by drivers and motor carriers within the American Transportation Analysis Institute’s 2022 High Business Points survey, made public right here on Oct. 22.

The pair ranked No. 1 and No. 2 on the checklist, and have been adopted in descending included by an absence of obtainable truck parking; driver compensation; the state of the economic system; lengthy detention instances; driver retention; the Compliance, Security Accountability security scoring system; velocity limiters and lawsuit abuse reform.

The highest three points expressed solely by business drivers have been truck parking, gas costs and driver compensation. High points for motor carriers have been driver scarcity, driver retention and gas costs.

Debra Devine/Transport Subjects

It was the primary time that gas value considerations made the highest 10 checklist since 2013, when it weighed in at No. 8. Driver shortages had been the No. 1 concern on the checklist for every of the previous 5 years.

This 12 months’s difficulty checklist, the 18th survey by ATRI, was compiled from 4,200 survey respondents, together with drivers, motor carriers and a small mixture of different trade stakeholders. It was a document variety of responses, mentioned Rebecca Brewster, president of ATRI.

“I used to be not shocked to see velocity limiters on the checklist,” Brewster mentioned in an interview. “However to see so many drivers weigh in so strongly on velocity limiters — they’re very nervous in regards to the velocity limiters. They repeatedly cite the potential for street rage from velocity differentials. There’s a whole lot of security considerations wrapped round that one.”

It was the primary time velocity limiters made the ATRI checklist, which first started in 2005. Earlier this 12 months the Federal Motor Service Security Administration issued a discover of intent to difficulty a velocity limiter rule someday in 2023 that might restrict the velocity of enormous vans.

Aspect-by-side comparability of the place drivers and motor carriers rank the problems. #ATAmce22 pic.twitter.com/jiMTuxpeuN

— American Trucking (@TRUCKINGdotORG) October 22, 2022

The FMCSA discover was an preliminary step, meant to assemble info and knowledge to assist draft a supplemental rule proposal to require interstate motor carriers to put in in business automobiles digital engine management items to set a most velocity.

Dan Murray, ATRI’s senior vp, cautioned truckers to not play down the driving force scarcity dropping to No. 2.

“It’s simply that gas had been in an acute method catastrophic,” Murray mentioned. “The driving force scarcity is worse than its ever been. That in the long term goes to be our single-biggest difficulty. It type of hints that perhaps we’re not doing one of the best job in coping with the continual points.”

“The driving force scarcity is a matter that’s not going to go away,” mentioned Dennis Dellinger, president of Cargo Transporters Inc., a panel member on the ATRI difficulty survey session right here.

“Pay folks,” panelist Dee Sova, an America’s Street Group Captain driver with Prime Inc., mentioned in response to a dialogue of driver compensation, No. 4 on the checklist.

“Drivers want to have the ability to present for his or her households. Trucking took me out of poverty. I had to offer for my 4 daughters.”

The driving force scarcity and driver compensation are acquainted high points on the checklist. The trade has lengthy been wanting out there drivers, a difficulty made worse amid the pandemic. Amid skyrocketing freight demand, American Trucking Associations estimated the scarcity hit a historic excessive of simply over 80,000 truck drivers final 12 months. The difficulty was compounded by difficulties in getting tools, primarily pushed by a scarcity of semiconductor chips which can be important elements of recent vans. Many fleets responded by, amongst different issues, growing compensation.

The 2022 ATA Driver Compensation Examine on Aug. 10 discovered the median pay for truckload drivers elevated 18% year-over-year to $69,000 in 2021. The median compensation for less-than-truckload fleets hit $73,000. The median wage for a driver at a personal fleet was $85,000. The research lined fleets with greater than 135,000 worker drivers and practically 20,000 impartial contractors.

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