The Arkansas Top 10 ATRI survey reveals Arkansas’ trucking execs’ biggest concerns
By Rebecca M. Brewster Guest Writer
Trucking is big business in
Arkansas. The industry employs over 83,000 individuals in the state, meaning one out of every 12 employees statewide has a trucking-related job. And, trucks transport more than 84 percent of manufactured freight moved in the state. With an employee base that large
and an economic impact that mean- ingful, understanding the issues that matter most to the trucking industry is critical for the state’s success. So, how to identify those issue? The annual Top Industry Issues Survey provides some insight. Since 2005, the American
Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has been surveying motor carri- ers and commercial drivers nationwide to identify those issues which have the greatest impact on the industry. And, for each issue identified in the survey, industry stakeholders are also asked to rank potential strategies for address- ing each. The annual survey results are released every October and the 2016 results show some disparities in ranking the issues between the national results and those generating from Arkansas- based motor carriers. First, there are similarities between
the issues identified as most important. Arkansas motor carriers identified nine of the same top ten issues as their peers nationwide, albeit with different rankings. The remaining issue that was
ARKANSAS TRUCKING REPORT | Issue 6 2016
ranked in the top 10 by Arkansans but did not make the top 10 overall list was Driver Health and Wellness. And, motor carriers based in Arkansas did not rank the lack of available truck parking as one of their top issues, while it ranked fourth overall in the national list.
AN UNCERTAIN WORKFORCE, ECONOMY, AND REGULATION The top issue of concern in the
Arkansas ranking was the continued Driver Shortage. Filling seats with qualified, safe drivers is a top prior- ity for motor carriers large and small, and once those seats are filled, keep-
ing those drivers is critical. Concern over how to successfully do both put the Driver Shortage at the top of the Arkansas list and Driver Retention in third place. In terms of strategies identified by
survey respondents to address each, the top recommended approach for alleviat- ing the driver shortage is to research and quantify successful recruitment strategies for professional drivers. On the retention side, the top strategy ranked by Arkansas motor carriers is to study the effectiveness of carrier reten- tion programs that financially incentiv- ize drivers for their performance in the
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