Fuel prices top issue within trucking industry

Fuel prices are the top issue for the trucking industry, according to the American Transportation Research Institute’s Critical Issues in the Trucking Industry report.

Each year, ATRI issues a report highlighting the top issues in the trucking industry. Leading this year’s list is fuel prices, followed by “driver shortage,” truck parking and driver compensation. New to the list this year is speed limiters, which ranked ninth.

Fuel prices

The last time fuel costs made the top 10 list was in 2013 when it ranked eighth overall. However, rising diesel costs have propelled the issue to the top of this year’s list.

ATRI’s 2022 Operational Costs of Trucking found year-over-year increases in the fuel cost per mile of over 3%. Fleets operating in the West are experiencing the highest fuel costs per mile at 43.1 cents.

According to the report, high diesel prices are especially challenging for owner-operators, many of whom operate in the spot market where there is less ability to negotiate fuel surcharges to cover the price volatility.

Some strategies proposed by ATRI:

• Advocate for federal action to help stabilize the supply of fuel and minimize price volatility.
• Research potential factors that may be affecting fuel availability and pricing volatility.
• Promote financial incentives for alternative and renewable fuels to support growth and reduce costs during development and market expansion.

Driver shortage

As expected, truck drivers and motor carriers had a different assessment of problems in the industry.

Drivers’ top concerns were truck parking, fuel prices and driver compensation, while carriers’ top issues were the driver shortage, driver retention and fuel prices.

To read the full report, click here. LL