Fixing Driver Shortage Though Aging Foster Kids: ATRI 2024 Research Priorities

Fixing Driver Shortage Though Aging Foster Kids: ATRI 2024 Research Priorities

ATRI’s Research Advisory Committee (RAC) selected a diverse set of research priorities designed to address some of the industry’s most critical issues including workforce development, lawsuit abuse reform, and transportation infrastructure.

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) released their 2024 Top Research Priorities that includes five topics:

  • Trucking career pathways,
  • Nuclear Verdicts,
  • Cargo Theft,
  • Truck Bottlenecks, and
  • Federal Excise Tax

Let’s look at each of these in more detail.

Identify New Pathways to Trucking Careers

For half a decade, driver shortage was the top trucking concern according to ATRI’s annual survey until the 2022 survey found fuel prices as the top concern. But that doesn’t mean the lack of quality drivers in the job market is not an issue anymore.

The research will examine potential pathways into the industry from previously untapped populations including young adults aging out of the foster care system. Why?

Well, according to a 2023 NPR podcast, around 25,000 kids age out of the foster care system every year in the U.S. What happens when they do? In the years immediately following their 18th or 21st birthday (depending on the state), these young adults are likely to struggle in poverty. Often they are left on their own; with few or no financial resources, limited education, training and employment; homeless, and with little or no support from family, friends and more.

Maybe trucking will be a good fit for them if the program can make this transition happen smoothly.

Additionally, ATRI will use their extensive truck driver demographic data collected through driver surveys over several decades to identify changing demographic trends in the driver population, allowing industry to better target driver recruitment and retention strategies.

Impact of Nuclear Verdicts

ATRI research documented a 40 percent increase in the liability insurance premium cost per mile over the past decade, although the growth in premiums has moderated somewhat more recently, with just a five percent increase from 2018 to 2022.

Why the large uptick in insurance premiums?

Well, in 2020 ATRI released a landmark study examining the frequency and impact of nuclear verdicts on the trucking industry. That research documented the scale and frequency of truck crash litigation verdicts and explored the growing use of third-party litigation financing.

For over a decade, the Reptile Theory continues to be a major cause in nuclear verdicts that cause commercial trucking insurance rates to increase every year.

This ATRI research update will utilize more recent data to examine how verdicts have changed since the initial study, impacts on motor carrier insurance premiums, factors contributing to nuclear verdicts, as well as potential impacts from state-level lawsuit abuse reform legislation passed in recent years.

Comprehending the Scope of Cargo Theft in the U.S.

Cargo theft is the highest that it has ever been.

There were 582 supply chain events reported across the United States and Canada in the second quarter of 2023, a 57 percent increase when compared to the second quarter of 2022, according to the latest CargoNet report.

ATRI’s research will examine existing data sources as well as work with motor carriers to better quantify the scale and frequency of this often-unreported crime.

The research will also examine existing and emerging cargo theft tracing and prevention programs to identify best practices.

What steps should truckers take as victims of theft?

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Calculating the Cost of Truck Bottlenecks.

Did you know that average rush hour truck speeds were 38.6 MPH, down more than 11% from the previous year. This is due to congested bottlenecks for trucks in America.

Every year, ATRI’s list highlights the dire needs for modernizing and improving our roads and bridges,” said American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear.  “We have seen, most recently in Pittsburgh, that the cost of doing nothing could also cost lives.  It’s time to fund these projects and get our supply chains moving again.”

For the past several decades, ATRI has utilized its extensive database of truck GPS data to monitor and quantify traffic congestion on the nation’s highways.

This research will provide a more granular analysis of the cost of congestion for specific bottleneck locations from ATRI’s top 100 truck bottlenecks list, as well as case studies quantifying the return-on-investment for locations where targeted infrastructure improvements have resulted in reduced congestion.

Federal Excise Tax (FET) Cost-Benefit Analysis.

The 12 percent FET on the purchase of heavy-duty trucks and trailers is considered by many to discourage investment in newer, safer equipment with cleaner engines. This analysis will examine the impact of the FET on carrier decisions to avoid new equipment investment, such as unrealized safety and emissions improvements.

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