The American Transportation Research Institute has opened its 2026 Top Industry Issues Survey, giving trucking fleets, drivers and other freight stakeholders a chance to rank the concerns shaping day to day operations. The survey opened August 24 and will remain open through October 2.
This is the 22nd year ATRI has run the survey. The final report breaks results into an overall ranking plus separate top ten lists for motor carriers and for truck drivers, since the two groups often prioritize different issues. Drivers have historically ranked pay and truck parking higher than the industry as a whole, which tends to focus more on economic and operational concerns.
In the 2025 survey, the industry ranked the economy as its top concern for a third straight year, followed by lawsuit abuse reform, insurance cost and availability, truck parking, driver compensation, compliance safety accountability scoring, English language proficiency for drivers, diesel emissions regulations, driver training standards and artificial intelligence.
Last year more than 4,200 industry stakeholders took part in the survey, a 14 percent increase over 2024. Motor carrier executives and staff made up 46 percent of respondents, truck drivers made up 30 percent, and the remaining 23 percent came from other freight sectors such as brokerages and suppliers.
ATRI will compile this year's results into a report set for release October 16 at the American Trucking Associations Management Conference and Exhibition in Charlotte, North Carolina. Fleets and drivers can take the survey online through ATRI's website.
Source: FleetOwner - https://www.fleetowner.com/news/news/55400492/atri-2026-top-industry-issues-survey-seeks-input-from-trucking-fleets-and-drivers