Page 28 - ATR 6 2014 web

the trucking Industry’s top 10

Hours-of-Service continues to dominate concerns in trucking

By rebecca m. Brewster

Guest Writer

For the past decade, the American
Trucking Associations has turned to
the American Transportation Research
Institute (ATRI) to survey trucking
industry stakeholders to identify the top
issues of concern. The dynamic shifting
of industry priorities over the past ten
years demonstrates the complexity of
operating in an industry so vital to the
economy yet so impacted by forces out-
side of our immediate control.
In the early years of the survey, the
rising cost and limited availability of
fuel registered as a top concern, along
with the driver shortage. With the onset
of the Great Recession, the economy
first emerged as an industry concern
in 2008 and spent three years as the
number one industry issue from 2009 –
2011. Other issues in the survey’s early
years but which have since dropped off
the top 10 list include truck security, the hours-of-serVice (hos) rules coNtiNue to
driver training, insurance costs and
environmental issues. While still rep- domiNAte the collectiVe iNdustry’s coNcerN,
resenting significant challenges for the ANd thAt leVel of coNcerN hAs BeeN closely
industry, these issues have been eclipsed tied to the impActs of federAl rulemAkiNg,
by emerging concerns including the lack regulAtioN chANges, rule VAcAtiNg ANd the
of available truck parking, the upcom-
ing Electronic Logging Device (ELD) most receNt chANges to the rules, which
mandate and commercial driver health weNt iNto effect iN 2013.
and wellness.
In the survey’s first six years, indus-
try stakeholder concern over the grow- hours-of-service and the deployment One issue has been on the list, and
ing scope of federal and state oversight of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety among the top five concerns annually,
of trucking was captured as one issue, Administration’s Compliance, Safety, since the survey started in 2005. The
Government Regulations, which peaked Accountability (CSA) program. CSA hours-of-service (HOS) rules continue
in 2009 at the number two spot on the first appeared on the top industry issues to dominate the collective industry’s
survey. However, that concern disag- list in 2010, ranking second overall, and concern, and that level of concern has
gregated into several stand-alone issues it has continued to rank in the top five been closely tied to the impacts of fed-
in more recent years, among them issues since. eral rulemaking, regulation changes,

28 arkansas trucking report | issue 6 2014