Tennessee’s Top Ten ATRI’s top ten survey results based on TTA’s reporting members
BY REBECCA M. BREWSTER GUEST WRITER
Trucking is big business in Tennessee. T e industry employs over 183,000 individuals in the state, meaning one out of every 13 employees statewide has a trucking-related job. And, trucks transport more than 80 percent of manufactured freight moved in the Volunteer state. It’s clear that trucking matters to Tennessee.
So, with an industry that important, what are the issues of most concern to motor carriers in the state? T e annual Top Industry Issues Survey provides some insight. Since 2005, the American Transportation
Research Institute (ATRI) has been surveying motor carriers and commercial drivers nationwide to identify those issues which have the greatest impact on the industry. And, for each issue identifi ed in the survey, industry stakeholders are also asked to rank potential strategies for addressing each. T e annual survey results are released every October and the 2015 results show some disparities in ranking the issues between the
National 1. Hours-of-Service (HOS)
INDUSTRY ISSUESSURVEY
2015 TOP 3. Driver Shortage 4. Driver Retention 5. Truck Parking
2. Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA)
national results and those generating from Tennessee-based motor carriers. For Tennessee motor carriers, the
workforce issues of Driver Shortage and Driver Retention garner the top two spots. Not surprising given that Tennessee is home to seven of the nation’s largest for-hire fl eets. Filling seats with qualifi ed, safe drivers is a top priority for motor carriers large and small and, once those driver positions are fi lled, keeping those drivers is critical. T e top strategy for dealing with the
driver shortage as ranked by respondents (Tennessee and nationally) is to work with state and federal authorities to consider a graduated CDL program to safely attract new and younger drivers. T e $305 billion FAST Act, signed into law last December, allows the U.S. Department of Transportation to create a pilot program for 18-20 year olds to drive interstate if they have a military background that included truck driving experience. As a way to address driver retention,
Tennessee survey respondents ranked as their top strategy to study the eff ectiveness of carrier retention programs that fi nancially incentivize drivers for performance in the areas of safety, fuel economy and trip productivity. While it ranked fi rst nationally, concern
over the commercial driver Hours-of-Service (HOS) rules ranked third among Tennessee respondents. T e HOS rules have topped the industry’s list of concerns for three consecutive years (2013-2015) and have been in the top fi ve nationally since the survey was fi rst conducted in 2005, driven primarily by the continued changes to and uncertainty surrounding the future of the rules; 2015 was no diff erent. Tennessee motor carriers placed a much
higher level of concern/ranking (4th overall) on the state of the nation’s transportation infrastructure than did their peers across the
CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
Tennessee-Based Respondents 1. Driver Shortage 2. Driver Retention
3. Hours-of-Service (HOS)
6. Electronic Logging Device (ELD) Mandate 7. Driver Health and Wellness 8. Economy
9. Transportation Infrastructure/ Congestion/ Funding 10. Driver Distraction
4. Transportation Infrastructure/Congestion/ Funding 5. Electronic Logging Device Mandate 6. Driver Distraction 7. Truck Parking (tie)
7. Compliance, Safety, Accountability (tie) 9. Economy
10. Driver Health and Wellness Q4 WINTER 2017 TENNESSEE TRUCKING NEWS • 11
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