In October at ATA’s MC&E Conference, the results of the 2019 ‘Critical Issues in the Trucking Industry’ survey will be revealed and discussed by some of the top thought leaders and executives in the industry. This annual survey is issued by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), a non-profit research organization dedicated to moving the trucking industry forward through insight and education. In previous years, the survey has uncovered concerns ranging from hours of service to the ongoing driver shortage.
In today’s tumultuous industry landscape, the 2019 survey results promise to be extremely eye-opening and informative. Although CDL recruiters often feel as though they’re competing with other companies who are hiring from the same pool of drivers, surveys like this ATRI challenge survey allow us all to gain a 10,000-foot view of the entire industry. With these insights and numbers in mind, recruiters can make better strategic decisions and more accurately focus growth efforts moving forward. If you haven’t already, take a minute to fill out the 2019 survey here.
Based on last year’s survey results, the top concerns for today’s CDL recruiters include:
#1: Driver Shortage
The Driver Shortage, a perennial top industry issue, ranked as the industry’s top concern for the second consecutive year in 2018. Growing demand for truck transportation over the past year has exacerbated industry capacity constraints as carriers continue to struggle with recruiting and retaining a qualified truck driver workforce. The current driver shortage, which the ATA estimates to be over 50,000 drivers, and the competitive freight market have served to boost driver pay, benefits, and bonuses over the past year.
#2: Hours-of-Service (HOS)
HOS is a top-three industry issue for the eighth consecutive year in 2018, as the final
implementation of FMCSA’s ELD mandate in December 2017 has underscored the
industry’s desire for increased flexibility in the current HOS provisions. The industry has
continued to push for increased flexibility in the current sleeper berth provision over the
past year, which was ranked as the top strategy to address HOS issues in 2017. These
efforts have culminated in FMCSA’s ANPRM seeking comment on several HOS
provisions, including split sleeper-berth.
#3: Driver Retention
With a strong economy bolstering demand for both truck capacity and truck drivers, Driver Retention has continued to move up the list of critical industry issues. Driver turnover increased through the first half of 2018, particularly at large truckload carriers, and the industry is on pace to have the highest annual turnover rate since 2013. To combat turnover, which dramatically increases recruitment and training costs, motor carriers continue to seek new retention strategies, including raising sign-on and retention bonuses.
If you’re interested in reading the strategies proposed for these top issues as well as the others revealed in the 2018 survey results, download the full report.
Do your part and have a say in critical industry topics! The ATRI annual survey only takes a few minutes to complete and can help inform a new era of CDL advancements. Take the 2019 survey now!
Stay up to date on CDL trucking trends! Be sure to check out the DriverReach blog for other relevant articles and head over to our webinars page for an up-to-date list of upcoming events and on-demand recordings.
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