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The Newsletter of the Non-Profit Research Organization for the Trucking Industry

ATRI Research Addresses Shortage of Qualified Diesel

Techs in Trucking

ATRI has released new research on causes and solutions for the current gaps in diesel technician training, recruitment, and retention. Qualified techs are indispensable to a safe and efficient trucking industry, yet 65.5 percent of shops were understaffed in 2025 with an average of 19.3 percent of positions unfilled. The research synthesized findings from techs, shops, and training programs.

Most techs (61.8%) enter the career without any formal training, requiring an average of 357 training hours and $8,211 in trainee wages to prepare them. Even with formal training, more than 30 percent of training program graduates were unqualified in 20 core skill areas, according to diesel shops. In seven of these core skill areas, each additional hour of training improved tech qualification by more than 16 percent and as such additional training hours in these areas can improve outcomes. In six core skill areas, however, each additional hour of training improved tech qualification by less than eight percent, highlighting the need for critical curricula upgrades.



The most common barrier reported by techs at the start of their career was the high cost of acquiring their own tools (29.0%), followed by a lack of prior tech knowledge (28.0%), insufficient pay (16.1%), and poor shop mentorship (10.8%). Though pay and schedules were the two aspects of employment that most attracted techs to the trucking industry, techs also ranked the pursuit of more interesting work (ranked 3rd) and greater variety of work (ranked 5th) as vitally important.

Forty-four percent of trucking techs were considering other tech jobs, with automotive and agriculture the most common alternative industries. Dissatisfaction with pay, interactions with management, and variety of work were the aspects of employment that had the most statistically significant association with techs choosing to look for a new job versus staying at their current job. The research also evaluated techs’ perspectives on other industries to identify how trucking’s comparative strengths and weaknesses match up to techs’ varying priorities. [Read More]

There's Still Time for You to Rank Your Top Trucking Issues!

Time is running out to submit your response to ATRI's 2025 Top Industry Issues Survey. ATRI's annual survey asks trucking stakeholders to rank the top issues of concern for the industry along with potential strategies for addressing each issue.

In its 21^st year, ATRI’s annual analysis not only ranks the issues overall but also provides insights into how critical topics are ranked differently by motor carriers and professional drivers. The report also allows stakeholders to monitor issues over time to better understand which issues are rising, or falling, in criticality.

The results of the 2025 survey will be released October 26th as part of ATA's Management Conference & Exhibition to be held in San Diego, CA.

Trucking Industry stakeholders can complete the 2025 survey by clicking here. 

The survey will remain open through Friday, October 10, 2025.

ATRI has issued a call for motor carrier participation in new research analyzing the impacts of new entrant truck driver training on safety and retention. The study is an update to research published by ATRI in 2008, and this latest study will focus on the efficacy of FMCSA’s Entry-Level Driver Training requirements.  

Participating carriers are required to submit the following data points for each of their new-entrant drivers:

• Demographics – days employed, CDL training provider, total miles driven, etc.
• Driver-specific safety events – crashes, select violations, and select telematic events 

For the purposes of this research, new entrants are defined as CDL drivers who have been driving professionally for 3 weeks to 24 months, and whose first professional truck driving job was with your carrier (i.e., they had no prior truck driving employer). Any driver who has met this definition since March 2022 could be included in the data collection. In addition, participating motor carriers will be asked to report fleetwide averages for training and retention metrics such as hours of driving with a trainer and nights home per week.

Participating carriers must have employed a minimum of 25 new entrant drivers in the requested time period (March 2022 – August 2025).

All data is strictly confidential, and ATRI is prepared to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement for participation in this research. All data will be anonymized and published in aggregate form only.

If interested in participating, please complete the motor carrier questionnaire by clicking the red button below.

Thank You!

For nearly 25 years, ATRI has provided award-winning research to improve the trucking industry’s safety and productivity. Our mission is clear and our dedicated team of research professionals deliver on that mission each and every day. In recognition of all that ATRI does, the following organizations and individuals supported ATRI with a charitable contribution in 2025.

In Honor of

Ed Crowell

In Memory of

Angela Kane

John Pruitt

Roger Tucker

Whether you make a personal contribution or contribute on behalf of your organization, your financial support will ensure that we can continue to produce award-winning research to support your business and your industry. Please consider adding your name to this list of industry leaders by giving to ATRI today.

ATRI President Rebecca Brewster joins Dr. Gina Anderson in her On the Frontline Podcast for a discussion on why community in trucking is important. Click image above to watch video.

ATRI Senior Research Associate Alex Leslie joins Jimmy Mac on Radio Nemo's Road Gang Radio for a discussion on ATRI's latest report on the diesel technician shortage. Click image above to listen.

ATRI Research Analyst Abbigail Huffman joins CCJ for a discussion on ATRI's report on driver demographics. Click image above to watch video.

ATRI SVP Dan Murray shared highlights from ATRI's latest research at the Cottingham & Butler Transportation Summit 2025.

ATRI President Rebecca Brewster presented ATRI's latest research at the Amerit Fleet Solutions Future Forward Summit.

ATRI President Rebecca Brewster joined the Kentucky Trucking Association (KTA) at their 2025 Annual Membership Conference & Expo in Jamestown, KY to share ATRI's latest research with their members. KTA President Rick Taylor is shown here presenting her speaker's gift.

Jess Siemers, General Manager of Wayne Transports, gave the ATRI MN team, Abbigail Huffman, Dan Murray and Alex Leslie, a tour of the Wayne Transports facility in Rosemount, MN.

ATRI Vice President Jeff Short presented at the 2025 CMV Safety Research Summit at the Bryant Conference Center in Tuscaloosa, AL.

ATRI Research Assistant Carla Rose with FMCSA's TechCelerate Now display during the 2025 CMV Safety Research Summit at the Bryant Conference Center in Tuscaloosa, AL.

Upcoming opportunities to hear the ATRI team talk about the latest research:

October 1: American Petroleum Institute State Government Relations Summit, Washington, DC - Jeff Short

October 1-3: WEX OTR Summit, San Antonio, TX – Rebecca Brewster

October 7: Arkansas Trucking Association Maintenance & Technology Council, Lowell, AR - Alex Leslie

October 7: 2025 American Trucking Associations Safety Management Council (SMC) Fall Conference, Washington, DC - Rebecca Brewster

October 20-21: 2025 ISAAC HORIZON User Conference, Charlotte, NC – Rebecca Brewster

October 22: Vermont Truck & Bus Association Annual Meeting, Waterbury, VT - Andrew Fain

October 22: 2025 North Carolina Trucking Association Annual Councils Conference and Expo, Asheville, NC - Rebecca Brewster

October 23 at 8:30 a.m ET: ATRI on the Air on Radio Nemo's Road Gang Radio - Jeff Short discusses ATRI's research on Cargo Theft

October 25-28: American Trucking Association's 2025 Management Conference and Exhibition, San Diego, CA - All ATRI Staff

November 9-12: Women in Trucking 2025 Accelerate Conference and Expo, Dallas, TX - Dan Murray and Carla Rose

November 18: Trucking Association Executive Council Marketing and Communications Meeting, Des Moines, IA - Rebecca Brewster, Andrew Fain and Carla Rose

November 19: National Confection and Snacks Logistics Council, Bethlehem, PA - Rebecca Brewster

ATRI's Weekly Key Research Highlights

Each Wednesday, ATRI shares key research findings from one of its studies on social media. In one of the latest posts, ATRI Research Assistant Carla Rose discusses ATRI's three compendiums of research located on ATRI's website here. Be sure to follow ATRI on LinkedIn to keep up with the latest from ATRI’s research each week.

Addressing the Shortage of Qualified Diesel Technicians

Evolving Truck Driver Demographics: Issues and Opportunities

An Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking: 2025 Update

Expanding Truck Parking at Public Rest Areas

Expanding Truck Parking at Public Rest Areas - Executive Summary

Repealing the Federal Excise Tax on New Truck Equipment: Impacts and Opportunities for Industry Safety and Operations

AMERICAN TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE | TruckingResearch.org

Atlanta, GA • Minneapolis, MN • Washington, DC • Sacramento, CA

ATRI is the trucking industry’s 501c3 not-for-profit research organization. It is engaged in critical research relating to freight transportation’s essential role in maintaining a safe, secure and efficient transportation system.