CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Fuel prices have emerged as the top concern of the US trucking industry in the American Transportation Research Institute's (ATRI) 22nd annual Top Industry Issues report, released on October 18 at the American Trucking Associations' Management Conference and Exhibition, ATRI announced via PR Newswire.

Among truck drivers — both owner-operators and company drivers — fuel prices ranked number one, followed by truck parking and driver compensation. Motor carriers ranked lawsuit abuse reform first, fuel prices second and the driver shortage third. Nearly 3,100 industry stakeholders took part in the survey, including motor carriers (about 48 percent of respondents), truck drivers (26 percent) and other stakeholders such as suppliers, driver trainers and law enforcement.

"Just as we started to see some positive signs in the freight economy, the cost of diesel topped $6.50 per gallon," said Ben Banks, president of TCW, in ATRI's release. "With operating costs continuing to climb overall, this spike in fuel costs is particularly painful for small- to mid-size fleets."

The economy, which held the overall number-one spot for three years in a row, fell to number six, reflecting what ATRI called some cautious optimism among carriers. The driver shortage ranked fifth overall and driver retention tenth, while artificial intelligence in trucking and diesel emissions regulations stayed in the top ten for a second year. Law enforcement respondents ranked electronic logging device (ELD) fraud as their top concern.

For the large number of Punjabi owner-operators and company drivers on US highways, diesel is the single biggest running cost of every trip: trade outlet CDLLife's coverage of the report noted the same ranking, with fuel first for drivers and second for carriers. ATRI said the full report, including state-specific analyses for states with enough responses, is available on its website.

Sources: American Transportation Research Institute, 22nd annual Top Industry Issues report (released October 18, 2026, via PR Newswire); CDLLife.