Sluggish Economy and Impending CSA 2010 Top List of Concerns in Annual Trucking Industry Survey

PHOENIX, Oct. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), the trucking industry's not-for-profit research institute, today unveiled its list of the top ten critical issues facing the North American trucking industry.

The state of the economy tops the list in ATRI's survey of more than 4,000 trucking industry executives.  The complete results were released at the 2010 Management Conference and Exhibition of the American Trucking Associations (ATA) meeting in Phoenix, the nation's largest gathering of motor carrier executives.  The ATRI Top Industry Issues report also solicited and tabulated specific strategies for addressing each issue.

The Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 (CSA 2010), the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's new regulatory framework for evaluating carrier and driver safety, debuted on the list in a close second to the economy this year.  Government regulation, which was the second most pressing issue last year, remained near the top of the list at spot number three.  The driver shortage returned to the top ten list this year, in a sign that carriers have a growing concern over finding enough drivers to meet increased freight demand as the economy rebounds.

The ATA-commissioned survey results and proposed strategies will be utilized by the ATA Federation to better focus its advocacy role on behalf of the U.S. trucking industry and ATA Federation stakeholders.

"ATRI's annual survey gives us a clear roadmap of the strategies we collectively need to pursue as an industry," said ATA Chairman Tommy Hodges (Titan Transfer, Shelbyville, TN).

"It is vital for the trucking industry to stay abreast of the issues and policies that have a profound impact on how we move America's freight safely and efficiently, said Bill Graves, ATA President and CEO.  Not only must we be prepared to support initiatives that are based on well-founded research and thought, but we must also be ready to vigorously debate initiatives which lack research and practicality."

ATRI is the trucking industry's 501(c)(3) not-for-profit research organization.  It is engaged in critical research relating to freight transportation's essential role in maintaining a safe, secure and efficient transportation system.  A copy of the survey results is available from ATRI at www.atri-online.org.

SOURCE American Transportation Research Institute