Economy Drives Trucking Industry’s Concerns

The state of the economy tops the list of trucking industry concerns in 2025, followed by lawsuit abuse and insurance availability, according to new report from the American Trucking Research Institute, the industry’s nonprofit research organization. 

This was the third year in a row the economy remained the industry’s No. 1 concern, and longstanding issues related to lawsuits and insurance rose to become No. 2 and No. 3. Four new issues made the Top 10, including English language proficiency for drivers, diesel emission regulations, driver training standards and artificial intelligence in trucking. 

“We’re in the third year of this extended freight recession and the pain is real,” said Andy Owens, A&M Transport President on Oct. 26.  “Operating costs climbed to their highest ever at the same time that freight pricing has bottomed out.” 

The ATRI’s 21st Annual Top Industry Issues survey results also showed that the lack of available truck parking dropped two spots this year to become the No. 4 concern, and driver compensation retained its spot at No. 5. 

Driver training standards had been on the list of truck driver concerns since 2019, but this year garnered enough votes across all respondents to become the No. 9 overall top concern. Among truck driver respondents, it was ranked seventh.  

Over 4,200 trucking industry stakeholders participated in this year’s survey, a 14% increase over the 2024 survey. Respondents included motor carriers, truck drivers, industry suppliers, driver trainers, and law enforcement, among other groups.     

More than 46% of the survey respondents were motor carrier executives and personnel, 30% were truck drivers, and 23% were 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. 

Article sourced from the NJBIA and the full report can be found here.