Truck Parking Slips to No. 2 Spot in Annual ATRI Survey
Keiron Greenhalgh
Adequate compensation is the top concern among professional drivers in 2025, according to the American Transportation Research Institute’s annual survey of trucking industry participants.
Driver compensation replaced truck parking atop the list of worries for drivers who responded to the 21st critical issues survey, ATRI said Oct. 26.
Truck parking was the No. 2 concern in 2025 for drivers. English-language deficiency for drivers, broker issues and detention/delay at customer facilities rounded out the top five among the 27 topics to choose from.
Wages are up 2.4% for drivers, according to ATRI research, but that is 0.5% below the rate of inflation.
A study commissioned by FinditParts on truck driver job satisfaction saw predictable pay cited by 81% of drivers as the reason for seeking alternative employment.
During the unveiling of the study’s results at American Trucking Associations’ 2025 Management Conference & Exhibition, Prime Inc. over-the-road driver and America’s Road Team captain Emily Plummer bemoaned the state of the economy and its impact on drivers.
“Drivers don’t want to live paycheck to paycheck,” said Plummer, a driver for 24 years who has accumulated more than 3.5 million safe driving miles.
Drivers want to be able to feed their families, pay their mortgage or rent, the basics every American desires, said Plummer, who was named the Truckload Carriers Association’s 2023 Professional Driver of the Year.
Plummer warned MCE attendees that drivers are taking money from their nest eggs to get by when they want to be saving, putting money away for retirement or major life events.
“Every carrier in here would love to pay their drivers more. It is just not on the cards at the moment,” says A&M Transport CEO Andy Owens. (John Sommers II for Transport Topics)
Speaking on the same panel as Plummer unveiling the study’s results, A&M Transport CEO Andy Owens said it had been difficult as a carrier to raise driver wages because of the freight rate recession.
Glendale, Ore.-based truckload carrier A&M Transport operates in five Western states. Owens also is chairman of the ATRI Research Advisory Committee.
“Every carrier in here would love to pay their drivers more. It is just not on the cards at the moment,” said Owens.
The top overall concern among survey respondents, the economy, did not make the Top 10 for drivers despite the correlation between that and drivers’ No. 1 issue.
There were more than 4,200 respondents to the survey. Of those, 47% were from motor carriers and 30% were drivers.
Respondents’ top-ranked strategies for dealing with drivers’ biggest concern in 2025 were quantifying the economic impact of paying drivers for all their hours worked, including detention time and congestion delays; analyzing driver compensation models and the correlation to job satisfaction; and researching the effectiveness of carrier programs that financially incentivize drivers, including regarding fuel economy.
ATRI research has shown driver productivity — and therefore compensation — is hurt by 135.9 million hours annually for detention and 1.2 billion hours annually for congestion.
Meanwhile, truck parking slipped to No. 2 in the rankings for driver concerns, perhaps reflecting progress made over the past year. Truck parking also slipped two places to the No. 4 spot in the overall results of the study.
Ohio and Pennsylvania, for instance, announced expansion of truck parking capacity, with 1,400 spots to be added in Ohio and 1,200 in Pennsylvania.
And at a federal level, the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act, which would provide grants for building and improving parking, was unveiled in February, while the Department of Transportation unveiled more than $200 million in grants during the summer.
It is not just the amount of parking that concerns drivers, however, Plummer told MCE attendees. There’s a big difference between parking and safe parking, said Plummer, adding: “I can park my truck anywhere, but am I safe there?”
In addition, safe truck parking is key to attracting and retaining new drivers, especially female drivers, said Plummer.
Oftentimes, drivers may not have a choice outside of on- and off-ramps, said Plummer, which isn’t good enough — a position her peers agree with.
Tyson Fisher
An increase in lawsuits and nuclear verdicts has been a growing problem for the trucking industry. However, researchers found that sweeping tort reform would greatly benefit all Americans, including addressing one of their main concerns: food prices.
Tort reform was the second-biggest concern among motor carriers, according to the American Transportation Research Institute’s latest survey. In just the past year, Wabash had to pay a severely discounted $30 million settlement to end a case that initially put it on the hook for nearly half a billion dollars. Daimler Truck North America got it with a $160 million verdict around the same time.
Trucking stakeholders have sounded the alarm, and some are listening. Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., and Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, have introduced a bill that protects trucking companies from lawsuit abuse. Oklahoma enacted tort reform earlier this year. Nevada and Texas are looking into it.
Perhaps more lawmakers would take tort reform for the trucking industry if they realized lawsuit abuse affects everybody. That was what the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform recently discovered.
Lawsuit abuse has driven up costs in the trucking industry, both in litigation costs and insurance premiums. But a new report from the Institute for Legal Reform shows the increase in trucking lawsuits has hindered broader economic growth, reducing both GDP and employment.
The study looked at the cost of litigation in the trucking sector per $1,000 of revenue across all states. North Dakota had the lowest at $25. Mississippi had the highest at nearly $58.
What would happen if the cost of litigation in all states dropped to North Dakota’s low level? According to the Institute for Legal Reform, the U.S. GDP would increase by an average of $523 billion a year and add nearly 6 million jobs across all industries.
The reason is simple: lower litigation costs would lead to higher economic activity.
To put that in the context most Americans would understand, the study calculated what that means for food costs. Significant tort reform could lower the expected inflation of “food at home” prices by up to 15%. That’s because food is among the most ground-transport-intensive goods.
That would have a more pronounced effect on lower-income households. Among the lower 20% of household incomes would see savings from money spent on food four times more than median income households. Essentially, substantial tort reform could have a meaningful effect on food insecurity concerns across the country.
Conversely, the reverse holds true as well. For every additional $1 million in trucking litigation costs, the U.S. GDP would drop by $2 million. Consequently, production and economic activity would take a hit.
Essentially, lawsuit abuse in the trucking industry is costing the United States billions of dollars, millions of jobs and driving up the cost of food. Meaningful tort reform could fix the problem. Although the study does not suggest specific policies, it explains how tort reform benefits all Americans, not just truckers.
Washington, D.C. (Oct. 14, 2025) – Law enforcement officers in Canada and the U.S. pulled over 8,739 vehicles during this year’s Operation Safe Driver Week. Officers issued 2,504 tickets/citations and 3,575 warnings to commercial motor vehicle and passenger vehicle drivers for unsafe driving infractions.
Operation Safe Driver Week is the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) annual, seven-day safe-driving initiative aimed at improving drivers’ behaviors through traffic-enforcement strategies, interactions with law enforcement, and outreach and awareness campaigns. CVSA’s jurisdictions devote time, personnel and resources to this driver safety initiative because driving behaviors, such as speeding, distracted driving, aggressive driving, etc., are a top cause of roadway crashes.
From July 13 to 19, officers issued 3,230 warnings and 1,839 tickets/citations to commercial motor vehicle drivers, and 345 warnings and 665 tickets/citations to passenger vehicle drivers for various unsafe driving behaviors.
A total of 20 citations and 53 warnings were given to drivers for reckless/careless/inattentive driving, the focus for this year’s Operation Safe Driver Week. Broken out by driver type, 12 citations and 47 warnings were given to commercial motor vehicle drivers, and eight citations and six warnings were given to passenger vehicle drivers.
CVSA Releases 2025 International Roadcheck Results
Commercial motor vehicle (CMV) enforcement personnel in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. conducted 56,178 CMV, driver and cargo inspections on May 13-15 as part CVSA’s 72-hour International Roadcheck inspection, enforcement and data-gathering initiative. Most of the vehicles (81.6%) and drivers (94.1%) inspected did not have any out-of-service violations.
CVSA Releases 2025 Operation Safe Driver Results
Law enforcement officers in Canada and the U.S. pulled over 8,739 vehicles during this year’s Operation Safe Driver Week. Officers issued 2,504 tickets/citations and 3,575 warnings to CMV and passenger vehicle drivers for unsafe driving infractions.
Deadline Approaching to Register for the North American Cargo Securement Harmonization Public Forum
Be part of the effort to help improve and implement uniform cargo securement regulatory requirements throughout North America by attending the North American Cargo Securement Harmonization Public Forum, scheduled for Nov. 6 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. There is no registration fee to attend this forum; however, advance registration is required. The deadline to register is Oct. 24.
CVSA Looks Forward to Ongoing Partnership with FMCSA as Derek D. Barrs is Confirmed as New Administrator
Derek D. Barrs has been confirmed to serve as the eighth administrator of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). As an organization consisting of CMV safety officials who enforce the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, CVSA works closely with FMCSA to protect our roadways and improve CMV safety by providing guidance, education and advocacy for enforcement and industry across North America.
CVSA Seeks Research and Analysis Specialist
CVSA is accepting applications for a research and analysis specialist. The specialist will be responsible for the development, management, oversight and quality control of the organization’s new research and analysis initiatives. The research and analysis specialist will design research efforts and data collection approaches to evaluate safety and efficiency impacts of CMV regulations, policies and/or program changes; analyze the implications of proposed actions and decisions and their effect on the Alliance; provide expertise, technical support and training coordination to the membership in upgrading programs to ensure uniformity, reciprocity and compatibility of enforcement activities; assist CVSA leadership on collaborative projects to set overall organizational policies and priorities; promote technology applications that increase safety, efficiency and crash reduction; and much more. This position may be remote. We are accepting applications through Oct. 31.
For the Most Part, Oversight and Highway Projects Remain Funded
Transport Topics
Trucking operations are set to roll on even as Washington grinds to a halt, according to the Department of Transportation’s shutdown plan.
Most highway and trucking programs will operate without interruption because they receive funding from the Highway Trust Fund and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act rather than annual appropriations. Federal law also requires agencies to maintain functions that protect life and property.
Trucking Oversight Remains Intact
At the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which regulates the trucking industry, all 1,084 employees remain on the job. Twenty-one of those are in nonworking status under the Deferred Resignation Program.
The plan says FMCSA positions are primarily funded by authorized contract authority and paid out of the Highway Trust Fund. The agency also collects fees under its Licensing and Insurance function and Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, which support those programs and their staff positions. DOT emphasized the agency has sufficient liquidating cash to operate through a short-term lapse in appropriations.
RELATED: Trump to Keep Tariff Probes Running Through Shutdown
During a lapse, FMCSA’s obligation limitation follows the IIJA. Once Congress enacts an appropriations bill or continuing resolution, DOT will adjust the limitation to match that law.
Highway Programs Fully Protected
The Federal Highway Administration will continue normal operations with all 2,268 employees on duty. No furloughs are expected, and DOT said the agency has enough liquidating cash to support several months of reimbursements to states for road projects.
Hazmat Inspections Continue, With Some Cuts
Oversight of hazardous materials shipments will continue despite staff reductions.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration expects 190 of its 579 employees to be furloughed, with 63 employees specifically retained to protect life and property. Inspectors and investigators will remain at work, checking shippers and carriers, conducting accident investigations and issuing enforcement actions where needed to address imminent safety hazards.
RELATED: Government Shutdown Threatens Key Economic Data
PHMSA will process permits and approvals only for emergencies that imminently threaten safety. Emergency Preparedness Grants payments will continue, as will intermittent support for financial operations to ensure timely payments to contractors and grantees. Information technology systems necessary for safety functions and cybersecurity will remain operational.
Activities considered noncritical — including hazardous materials training, rulemaking and research — will be suspended until funding is restored.
Vehicle Safety Standards Work Uninterrupted
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which oversees vehicle safety standards, is also unaffected. All 574 employees remain on duty, with 13 in nonworking status under the Deferred Resignation Program.
Funding is secured through prior appropriations, the Highway Trust Fund and the IIJA. The agency will shift staff payroll to alternate funding sources, including carryover and supplemental funds during the lapse.
DOT’s plan notes no significant disruptions to NHTSA’s work.
Maritime Operations Continue With Reduced Staff
The Maritime Administration would maintain most operations, with 590 of its 790 employees continuing to work. The Ready Reserve Fleet and Maritime Security Program would continue using carryover balances, ensuring vessels remain available for national defense needs.
Other Transportation Modes Face Deeper Cuts
While trucking and highway programs are largely shielded, other parts of DOT face sharper strain.
The Federal Aviation Administration projects more than 11,000 furloughs, though air traffic controllers remain on duty without pay, and inspectors continue field inspections.
The Federal Railroad Administration will continue accident investigations and inspections with reduced staffing, while most regulatory and research functions stop. Transit programs funded by multiyear appropriations will continue without interruption.
Matt Cole
Following Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s announcement Monday of the launch of two hours-of-service-related pilot programs to kick off National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Tuesday unveiled details of what those programs could look like:
- The Flexible Sleeper Berth Pilot Program would allow participants to utilize more split-sleeper berth options, including a 5/5-hour split, in addition to the currently allowed up to 7/3-hour splits
- Split Duty Period Pilot Program: Allowing truck drivers to pause their daily 14-hour clock for between 30 minutes and three hours each duty cycle
“Truck drivers are the backbone of our economy, and we owe it to them to explore smarter, data-driven policies that make their jobs safer and more enjoyable,” Duffy said Monday. “These pilot programs will help identify real solutions for America’s drivers without compromising safety.”
Each pilot program, as proposed, would be limited to approximately 256 participating drivers.
Flexible Sleeper Berth
FMCSA’s proposal to allow increased split-sleeper berth flexibility within the hours of service, which will publish in the Federal Register at this link Wednesday, Sept. 17, would allow FMCSA “to assess whether additional flexibility in how sleeper berth time may be split achieves a level of safety equivalent to that which would be achieved absent the regulatory relief.”
The agency said drivers selected to participate would provide FMCSA with data for a four-month period, divided into a “baseline” period of one month, during which they would comply with the current sleeper berth regulations, and another period of three months when they would operate under an exemption allowing additional flexibility in how they can split their sleeper berth time.
The sample of participants would incorporate drivers from small, medium and large carriers, including owner-operators.
As proposed, participating drivers would receive a study-provided smartphone installed with data collection applications necessary for the research, such as fatigue measurement apps, survey apps, etc., FMCSA said. These would not include any automated data collection applications that collect and record information without the driver’s consent. Drivers would also receive a wearable smartwatch.
At a minimum, FMCSA would gather the following data during the study:
- Records of duty status (RODs, or logs) prepared using an electronic logging device, to evaluate participants’ use of the split duty period exemption.
- Roadside inspection data and crash records.
- Wrist actigraphy data, to evaluate total sleep time, time of day sleep was taken, and sleep quality, e.g., sleep latency and intermittent wakefulness.
- Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT) data, to evaluate drivers’ behavioral alertness/effects of fatigue, based on reaction times. (PVT is also sometimes referred to as a Psychomotor Vigilance Task.) For this study, drivers would be required to complete daily iterations of a brief PVT, a three-minute behavioral alertness test that measures drivers’ alertness levels by timing their reactions to visual stimuli.
- Subjective sleepiness ratings, using the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS), to measure drivers’ perceptions of their fatigue levels.
- Survey data (driver pre- and post-study surveys to provide contextual information).
- Other information necessary to complete the analyses may be collected through the participating motor carrier. Every effort will be made to reduce the burden on the motor carrier in collecting and reporting this data.
FMCSA acknowledged that there is potential under the pilot program “for employing motor carriers, shippers, and receivers to pressure participating drivers to use the exemption in a manner which benefits their business needs but not the driver’s own schedule, restfulness, and safe driving behavior.” The agency said that’s not its intention for the program, adding that it will “actively monitor and watch for any indication that shippers, receivers, or employing motor carriers are inappropriately influencing or misusing a driver’s ability to determine how and when to utilize the flexibility provided by the exemption.”
FMCSA also detailed the proposed requirements for participation for both motor carriers and drivers. As proposed, participating motor carriers are required to meet the following criteria:
- Must have proper operating authority and registration
- Must have the minimum levels of financial responsibility, if applicable
- Must not be a high or moderate risk carrier
- Must not have a conditional or unsatisfactory safety rating
- Must not have any enforcement actions within the past three years
- Must not have a driver out of service (OOS) rate above 5.97%
- Must not have a vehicle OOS rate above the 21.41%
Unpaid civil penalties could also be grounds to be disapproved from participating, FMCSA added.
For drivers, would-be participants would not be eligible if, during the two-year period immediately preceding the date of participation, the driver had his or her license suspended, revoked, cancelled, or has been disqualified for a conviction of one of the disqualifying offenses listed in §383.51. In addition, drivers would be required to:
- For the purposes of the study, operate the same CMV (equipped with a sleeper berth) as operated for their main source of employment and regularly use the sleeper berth
- Possess a valid CDL
- Maintain a valid medical certificate from a healthcare professional on the agency’s National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners while participating in the pilot program
- Be employed by a motor carrier who has been approved for participation in the pilot program and/or certify as an owner-operator
- Agree to comply with the study procedures, including the use of a wearable actigraph, the completion of tests/surveys related to fatigue/sleepiness, and the preparation of RODS using an electronic logging device
FMCSA clarified that data collected will be transferred to third-party researchers, who will not transfer any of the data or information to FMCSA. Therefore, it will not be used by FMCSA for the purposes of enforcement actions against a participating motor carrier or driver.
The agency will accept public comments on the proposed pilot program for 60 days following the notice’s publication in the Federal Register Wednesday. Comments can be filed here through Nov. 17. FMCSA has listed several areas it seeks information about in the proposal, which can be found here, but responses don’t have to be limited to those questions.
During the first Trump administration in 2017, FMCSA also proposed a pilot that would have tested different split-sleeper options. In this week’s proposal, the agency said when developing its HOS notice of proposed rulemaking in 2019, which led to significant hours changes the following year, “FMCSA elected to not pursue the ‘flexible sleeper berth pilot program’ at that time, instead using the HOS NPRM to ask the public whether data already existed on the ‘6/4’ or ‘5/5’ splits.”
FMCSA said no data was provided in response to that NPRM, yet “the need remains for additional flexibility in how drivers may comply with the hours-of-service regulations,” which is why the agency is moving forward with the pilot program today.
Split Duty Period
In the other proposed pilot program, also publishing Wednesday in the Federal Register, participating truck drivers would have the option to extend their 14-hour on-duty period by taking one off-duty, sleeper berth, or on-duty/not driving period (taken at the location of a pick-up or delivery of cargo), including what is sometimes called “detention time,” of no less than 30 minutes and no more than three hours.
FMCSA said it “believes that the exemption covered by the proposed pilot program provides the flexibility to take extra rest, avoid driving during traffic congestion, and mitigate the impacts of unreasonable ‘detention times,’ thereby improving the working conditions of America’s truck drivers.”
As with the sleeper berth flexibility pilot program, FMCSA acknowledges that there is potential for motor carriers, shippers and receivers to pressure drivers into extending their duty period “to justify existing or further delays in loading or unloading.”
The agency said during the proposed pilot program, it would track the type of duty status participating drivers use to extend their 14-hour clock, which will help FMCSA in estimating the extent to which detention time occurs, as well as its potential effects on driver fatigue and safety performance metrics compared to pauses taken under other circumstances.
FMCSA will also “actively monitor and watch for any indication that shippers, receivers, or employing motor carriers are inappropriately influencing or misusing a driver’s ability to determine how and when to utilize the flexibility provided by the exemption,” the agency noted.
In addition to providing relief from detention time, FMCSA also believes the ability to pause the 14-hour clock could allow drivers to avoid congestion, thereby giving them an increased opportunity to travel at posted speed limits than below them during heavy congestion. The agency also said the flexibility could reduce pressure to drive at speeds higher than posted speed limits. Finally, FMCSA said drivers would have the ability to pause the clock to take a break to reduce the likelihood of driving while fatigued.
Under the proposed program, any on-duty/not driving time (taken at the location of a cargo delivery or pickup) used to extend the driver’s 14-hour clock would continue to count against the 60-/70-hour on-duty time limits in a 7- or 8-day period. However, any off-duty or sleeper berth time used to extend the driver’s 14-hour window would not count against the 60/70-hour limit.
Additionally, drivers would still be required to have 10 consecutive hours off-duty or in the sleeper berth at the end of the shift and continue to be limited under the 60/70-hour rule.
The split duty period pilot would also last four months per participating driver with one month of data collection under “baseline” conditions under current regulations, and three months of operating under the exemption. Participants will receive a smartphone with the necessary data collection apps, along with a smartwatch.
Information collected for this pilot would be the same as for the split sleeper pilot, detailed above.
Additionally, requirements for motor carriers and drivers to participate are the same for both programs.
Comments on the proposed pilot program can be filed here through Nov. 17. Commenters can answer specific questions from FMCSA, found at the end of the notice, or provide other responses.
