News

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) today released a follow-up analysis to its 2020 hallmark report on The Impact of Nuclear Verdicts on the Trucking Industry. The new report investigates the impact of verdicts and settlements under $1 million on the trucking industry. 

During its research on nuclear verdicts, ATRI determined that a different plaintiff litigation model is impacting the industry: small cases. The research used a new ATRI dataset of more than 600 cases resulting in either a settlement or verdict award of less than $1 million. The report provides rich insight into key crash characteristics and litigation factors that contribute to substantial payments to plaintiffs.

This study showed that settlement payments are approximately 37.7 percent larger than verdict awards, and 393 percent more likely to occur in incidents involving a fatality. Additionally, incidents involving a severe injury were 217 percent more likely to settle and 199 percent more likely to result in payments to plaintiffs over $600,000.

The report provides an overview of the small litigation landscape in the trucking industry as well as strategies to assist carriers and attorneys in preventing more costly litigation outcomes.

“This analysis proves a theory that I have always had; there are two markets as to the value of cases – the settlement market and the trial market. There should be one market and that is what a case is objectively worth,” said Doug Marcello, Attorney at Marcello & Kivisto LLC.

For access to the full report please visit ATRI’s website here.

NJMTA would like to thank the following businesses who have made donations to the Wreaths Across America Program so far this year. We can not thank you enough for supporting this wonderful program. Every wreath counts.

YOU HAVE HELP US EXCEED OUR GOAL OF 550 WREATHS

CURRENT WREATH ORDERS 750

50 OR MORE WREATHS

TRD Trucking Inc.

TrueNorth Companies

30 OR MORE WREATHS

MJD Trucking & Davy Cold Storage

Wakefern Food Corp.

Campbell's Express

Atlantic Utility Trailer Sales

Simonik Transportation & Warehousing and its Employees

20 OR MORE WREATHS

Bill Westervelt Asphalt Paving

Trans American Trucking

FindaTruckerJob.com

Taylor Oil Company

New Path Transportation

Daybreak Express, Inc.

Transways Motor Express Co., Inc.

Safety Dept. @ 400 - Evans Network of Companies

11 OR MORE WREATHS

The Evans Network of Companies

UP TO 10 WREATHS

Reardon Anderson

Thor Xpress Transport Inc.

Csirip Family

JLD Tax Resolution Group

Berretta & Costigliola LLP

Nabozny Transport LLC

Todd Freedman

Bob's Express and Trucking Inc.

KLK Trucking Co.

Employees of CMF Business Supplies, Inc.

Romark Trucking

C. Winters Supply

ContainerPort Group

Fuelrite

Valley Oils Inc.

John M. Krenzel

Bob Griffen (Honored by Tom Adamski)

Accent Trucking Corp.

PCS Software

Kempton Wood Products

Ho-Ro Trucking

Dameo Trucking

System Freight Inc.

Linden Warehouse & Distribution

Harbor Freight Transport Corp.

Cambria Mack Trucks

Deborah Cannon

Amboy Diesel Service

Riverside Supply

Port Jersey Logistics

All City Leasing & Warehousing Inc.

Select Carriers Inc.

Ball Four Transport LLC

McCollister's Global Services, Inc.

H & H Transportation, Inc.

Daniel Blazovic

Eagle Systems, Inc.

Hassel Transport

Rancocas Valley Trucking

The Farruggio Family

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) is launching a new annual three-day Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative (HTAI) early next year in Canada and the U.S., corresponding with each country’s Human Trafficking Awareness Day. In the U.S., the initiative will start on U.S. Human Trafficking Awareness Day, which is Jan. 11, to Jan. 13. In Canada, it will start on Canada’s Human Trafficking Awareness Day, which is Feb. 22, to Feb. 24.

This initiative is an awareness and outreach effort to educate commercial motor vehicle drivers, motor carriers, law enforcement officers and the general public about the crime of human trafficking, the signs to look for and what to do if you suspect someone is being trafficked.

According to the United Nations, human trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception with the aim of exploiting them for profit. Men, women and children of all ages and from all backgrounds can become victims of this crime, which occurs in every region of the world, including North America. Human traffickers often use violence or fraudulent employment agencies and fake promises of education and job opportunities to trick and coerce their victims.

“Human traffickers often use roadways as the mode of transportation for transporting their victims,” said CVSA President Capt. John Broers with the South Dakota Highway Patrol. “Since our roadways are the ‘workplace’ for truck drivers, motorcoach drivers and commercial motor vehicle inspectors, they are in a prime position to make a difference in helping to identify potential victims of human trafficking.”

“Identification, and ultimately prevention, starts with education,” Capt. Broers added. “Through CVSA’s Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative, we aim to equip drivers and inspectors with the tools they need to proactively serve on the frontline in our effort to end human trafficking.”

In preparation for the 2022 Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative, CVSA is offering human trafficking awareness resources to its membership and working with the Truckers Against Trafficking organization to distribute wallet cards and window decals. In addition, during the three-day awareness initiatives, CVSA jurisdictions will note human trafficking awareness and outreach data and submit that data to the Alliance.

To find out what your local jurisdiction is doing to increase human trafficking awareness, contact the agency/department responsible for overseeing commercial motor vehicle safety within your state, province or territory.

The NJMTA is an official sponsor of Wreaths Across America (WAA). Wreaths Across America’s mission is:

•          Remembering our fallen heroes
•          Honoring those that serve
•          Teaching our children about the sacrifices made by veterans to preserve our freedoms

This is carried out by laying wreaths on veterans’ grave across the country in December. This year the wreath laying will take place on December 18, 2021.

For years the trucking industry has donated/volunteered to handle the transportation of the wreaths from Maine to their final destination, as well as to sponsor wreaths.

Wreaths sponsored by NJMTA members will be sent to Beverly National Cemetery the final resting place for 49,000 veterans.

Our 2021 Goal is 550 wreaths

You can help us reach our goal by donating towards the purchase of wreaths. They cost is only $15 each.

CLICK HERE for order form.

The American Transportation Research Institute, the trucking industry’s not-for-profit research organization, released its 17th annual Top Industry Issues report, identifying a number of the industry’s key concerns including the driver shortage, driver retention, driver compensation, lawsuit abuse reform, truck parking and for the first time, the shortage of diesel technicians.

“The ATRI list of top industry issues provides a critical snapshot of the challenges impacting our industry at any given moment,” said ATA Chair Sherri Garner Brumbaugh, president and CEO of Garner Trucking, “and this year is no exception as supply chain constraints dominate the nation’s headlines. ATRI’s annual analysis not only captures the industry’s sentiment on the criticality of each of these issues but also maps out a course for addressing each through the stakeholder-ranked strategies.”

For the fifth year in a row, the Driver Shortage topped the list of industry concerns, garnering more than four times as many first-place votes as the number two issue, Driver Retention. Further reflecting the industry’s workforce challenges, Driver Compensation was ranked third overall. Lawsuit Abuse Reform rose three spots this year to take the number four spot and the lack of available Truck Parking rounded out the top five industry concerns. The Diesel Technician Shortage made the top-10 list for the first time this year, as the 10^th ranked most critical issue in the industry. 

Nearly 25 percent of the survey respondents were professional truck drivers and among driver respondents, Driver Compensation and Truck Parking tied for the number one industry concern. Detention / Delay at Customer Facilities was ranked by drivers as their second most pressing concern.

More than 2,500 trucking industry stakeholders participated in this year’s survey, including motor carriers, drivers, industry suppliers, driver trainers, law enforcement, and others. 

“This year’s large response shows just how serious our industry is about identifying the most critical concerns and more importantly, figuring out how we collectively deal with each issue,” said ATRI President and COO Rebecca Brewster.

“It really is no surprise that truck driver-related issues – notably the driver shortage and driver retention – ranked so high on the survey. Coming out of the pandemic, with the increased demand for goods and other pressures on the supply chain, getting and keeping drivers has been a real challenge industrywide,” Brewster said. “We also see the impacts of the current supply chain crunch in how highly issues like driver compensation, truck parking, infrastructure and driver detention ranked on the list.”

The complete results of the annual survey were released as part of 2021 American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference and Exhibition. The full report can be found at ATRI’s website here.

Commercial motor vehicle inspectors in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. inspected 35,764 commercial motor vehicles during this year’s Brake Safety Week, a seven-day inspection and enforcement initiative aimed at inspecting commercial motor vehicles roadside and identifying and removing any commercial motor vehicles with dangerous brake-related issues from our roadways. Twelve percent of the vehicles inspected were placed out of service due to critical brake-related inspection item conditions.

Every year, for Brake Safety Week, law enforcement jurisdictions with the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) conduct commercial motor vehicle and driver inspections at fixed weigh stations, temporary pop-up inspection sites and during roving roadway patrols, paying special attention to brake components and systems. Participating jurisdictions capture and report data on inspections and the special focus area for that year. This year, the focus was on brake hose chafing violations.

CVSA devotes an enforcement initiative to brakes because of the importance of properly maintained and functioning brakes on commercial motor vehicles, including tractor trailers of all types, cargo tankers, vans, flatbeds, motorcoaches, straight trucks and specialty vehicles, such as cranes or automobile carriers, etc. “Properly functioning brakes may mean the difference between a catastrophic collision or the ability to avoid a crash,” said CVSA President Capt. John Broers with the South Dakota Highway Patrol.

Brake-related violations accounted for eight out of the top 20 vehicle violations in 2020, according to the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s data. And brake system and brake adjustment violations accounted for more out-of-service vehicle conditions than any other vehicle violation during CVSA’s three-day International Roadcheck inspection and enforcement initiative in May.

Fifty Canadian and U.S. jurisdictions, and Mexico’s National Guard and Ministry of Communications and Transportation participated in this year’s Brake Safety Week, which is a voluntary commercial motor vehicle safety initiative. In Canada, 1,903 commercial motor vehicles were inspected. The brake-related out-of-service rate was 15.4%. The out-of-service rate related to brakes in the U.S. was 13.5% out of the 28,694 commercial motor vehicles inspected. And in Mexico, 5,167 inspections were conducted with a brake-specific out-of-service rate of 2.6%.

Combined, for a North American total, 35,764 commercial motor vehicles were inspected, Aug. 22-28, for Brake Safety Week. Twelve percent of those vehicles were restricted from travel because inspectors found brake-related critical vehicle inspection item conditions and placed those vehicles out of service, using CVSA’s North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria.

That also means that 88% of the commercial motor vehicles inspected throughout North America during Brake Safety Week did not have brake-related critical vehicle inspection item violations. Vehicles that did not have any vehicle and driver out-of-service conditions during a Level I or Level V Inspection may have received a CVSA decal, which is a visual indicator to inspectors that the vehicle was recently inspected (valid for three months) and had no critical vehicle inspection item violations.

In addition, during Brake Safety Week, inspectors in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. recorded 5,667 brake hose chafing violations, which are a common brake-related violation, whether out-of-service or not. Inspectors reported brake hose chafing violations in five different categories, illustrating levels of chafing severity, including two which are out-of-service conditions, and submitted that data to CVSA.

Table 1: Percentage of brake hose chafing violations by category and country

Description	OOS	Brake Hose Cross Section Graphic	Chafing Violation Photos	U.S.	Canada	Mexico	North America
Category 1. Wear extends into outer protective material, where applicable.	No		No image available.	31%	39%	44%	35%
Category 2. Wear extends through outer protective material into outer rubber cover.	No		No image available.	30%	24%	31%	31%
Category 3. Wear makes reinforcement ply visible, but ply is intact.	No			17%	19%	21%	18%
Category 4. Reinforcement ply is visible, and ply is completely frayed, severed or cut through.	Yes			13%	8%	2%	10%
Category 5. Wear extends through reinforcement ply to inner rubber layer.	Yes			9%	9%	1%	7%

Table 2: Number of brake hose chafing violations by category and country

	Category 1	Category 2	Category 3	Category 4	Category 5	Total
Canada	66	41	32	14	15	168
Mexico	655	463	311	33	16	1,478
U.S.	1,249	1,226	683	520	343	4,021
Total	1,970	1,730	1,026	567	374	5,667

Brake Safety Week is part of CVSA’s Operation Airbrake program, in partnership with the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, and Mexico’s National Guard and Ministry of Communications and Transportation. Operation Airbrake is a comprehensive program dedicated to improving commercial motor vehicle brake safety throughout North America. The goal is to reduce the number of crashes caused by faulty braking systems on commercial motor vehicles by conducting roadside inspections and educating drivers, mechanics, owner-operators and others on the importance of proper brake inspection, maintenance and operation.

View results from previous Brake Safety Week initiatives, along with the results from previous Brake Safety Day initiatives, CVSA’s one-day unannounced version of its week-long brake-focused inspection and enforcement initiative.

Law enforcement officers in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. stopped 46,058 passenger vehicle and commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers engaging in dangerous driving behaviors during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) Operation Safer Driver Week safety initiative.

Officers pulled over 28,148 commercial motor vehicles and 17,910 passenger vehicles July 11-17 and issued 10,486 warnings and 16,863 citations. Throughout the week, law enforcement personnel pulled over and issued warnings or citations to drivers they observed engaging in dangerous driving behaviors, such as speeding or distracted driving. The goal of Operation Safe Driver Week is to dissuade dangerous driving behaviors through interactions between drivers engaging in risky driving behaviors and law enforcement officers, and through a heightened law enforcement presence on our roadways.

Table 1: Top Five Warnings and Citations:

	Violation	Citations		Violation	Warnings
1	Speeding/basic speed law/driving too fast for conditions	11,039	1	Speeding/basic speed law/driving too fast for conditions	5,478
2	Failure to use a seat belt	2,580	2	Failure to use a seat belt	1,308
3	Texting/Distracted driving/ using a handheld phone	917	3	Failure to obey traffic control device	1,069
4	Failure to obey a traffic control device	858	4	Texting/Distracted driving/ using a handheld phone	659
5	Improper lane change	386	5	Improper lane change	682

Segmented by driver type:

Table 2: Top Five Passenger Vehicle Driver Warnings and Citations:

	Violation	Citations		Violation	Warnings
1	Speeding/basic speed law/driving too fast for conditions	9,349	1	Speeding/basic speed law/driving too fast for conditions	2,929
2	Failure to use a seat belt	1,355	2	Improper lane change	442
3	Distracted driving/using a handheld phone	573	3	Failure to use a seat belt	354
4	Possession/use/under influence of alcohol or drugs	428	4	Distracted driving/using a handheld phone	323
5	Failure to obey a traffic control device	336	5	Failure to obey traffic control device	200

Table 3: Top Five Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Warnings and Citations:

	Violation	Citations		Violation	Warnings
1	Speeding/basic speed law/driving too fast for conditions	1,690	1	Speeding/basic speed law/driving too fast for conditions	2,549
2	Failure to use a seat belt	1,225	2	Failure to use a seat belt	954
3	Failure to obey traffic control device	522	3	Failure to obey traffic control device	869
4	Texting/using a handheld phone	344	4	Texting/using a handheld phone	336
5	Improper lane change	112	5	Following too closely	310

Speeding, which was the focus of this year’s Operation Safe Driver Week, was the top driver-behavior violation for both types of drivers. Officers issued 11,039 citations and 5,478 warnings for speeding/basic speed law/driving too fast for conditions. That’s 9,349 citations and 2,929 warnings for speed-related offenses to passenger vehicle drivers, and 1,690 speed-related citations and 2,549 warnings to commercial motor vehicle drivers.

Failure to wear a seat belt was the second most-cited violation, with 2,580 total citations and 1,308 warnings. Officers issued 1,355 citations and 354 warnings to passenger vehicle drivers, and 1,225 citations and 954 warnings to commercial motor vehicle drivers.

Law enforcement personnel also issued 9,302 warnings and 8,484 citations to drivers for state/local driver violations. Examples of such violations may include vehicle-related observations an officer may notice during a traffic stop, such as equipment violations, expired license plate tags, inoperative lamps, etc. Broken out by driver type, commercial motor vehicle drivers received 6,631 warnings and 4,007 citations, and passenger vehicle drivers were issued 2,671 warnings and 4,477 citations.

In addition to traffic enforcement, 2,469 motorists were assisted during Operation Safe Driver Week, highlighting law enforcement’s commitment to public service and roadway safety. Motorist assistance may include help fixing a flat tire, providing gasoline for a stranded vehicle, checking on someone who may be pulled over, assisting individuals in distress or experiencing a medical emergency, jump-starting a vehicle, traffic control, etc.

Canada

In Canada, officers pulled over 1,828 commercial motor vehicle drivers and 7,759 passenger vehicle drivers engaging in dangerous driving behaviors, and issued 275 warnings and 4,020 citations. Broken out, that’s 136 warnings and 593 citations for commercial motor vehicle drivers, and 139 warnings and 3,427 citations to passenger vehicle drivers.

Table 4: Top Three Warnings – Canada

Passenger Vehicle Drivers	Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers
	Violation	Warnings		Violation	Warnings
1	Speeding/basic speed law/driving too fast for conditions	82	1	Failure to wear a seat belt	38
2	Failure to obey a traffic control device	21	2	Speeding/basic speed law/driving too fast for conditions	35
3	Failure to wear a seat belt	10	3	Operating while ill or fatigued	22

Table 5: Top Three Citations – Canada

Passenger Vehicle Drivers	Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers
	Violation	Citations		Violation	Citations
1	Speeding/basic speed law/driving too fast for conditions	2,861	1	Speeding/basic speed law/driving too fast for conditions	289
2	Failure to use a seat belt	172	2	Failure to wear a seat belt	160
3	Failure to obey a traffic control device	155	3	Texting/using a handheld phone	83

Mexico

In Mexico, officers pulled over 2,449 commercial motor vehicle drivers and 785 passenger vehicle drivers for unsafe driving behaviors. Officers issued a total of 1,689 warnings and 528 citations. That’s 1,115 warnings and 412 citations for commercial motor vehicle drivers, and 574 warnings and 116 citations to passenger vehicle drivers.

Table 6: Top Three Warnings – Mexico

Passenger Vehicle Drivers	Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers
	Violation	Warnings		Violation	Warnings
1	Failure to wear a seat belt	136	1	Failure to wear a seat belt	314
2	Following too closely	95	2	Following too closely	182
3	Speeding/basic speed law/driving too fast for conditions	90	3	Texting/using a handheld phone	159

Table 7: Top Three Citations – Mexico

Passenger Vehicle Drivers	Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers
	Violation	Citations		Violation	Citations
1	Failure to use a seat belt	66	1	Failure to use a seat belt	274
2	Speeding/basic speed law/driving too fast for conditions	39	2	Speeding/basic speed law/driving too fast for conditions	76
3	Failure to obey a traffic control device	5	3	Improper lane change	39

U.S.

In the U.S., officers pulled over 23,871 commercial motor vehicle drivers and 9,366 passenger vehicle drivers engaging in unsafe driving behaviors. Law enforcement personnel issued a total of 8,438 warnings and 12,264 citations, made up of 4,420 warnings and 3,158 citations to commercial motor vehicle drivers, and 4,018 warnings and 9,106 citations to passenger vehicle drivers.

Table 8: Top Five Warnings – U.S.

Passenger Vehicle Drivers	Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers
	Violation	Warnings		Violation	Warnings
1	Speeding/basic speed law/driving too fast for conditions	2,757	1	Speeding/basic speed law/driving too fast for conditions	2,386
2	Improper lane change	333	2	Failure to obey traffic control device	775
3	Distracted driving/using a handheld phone	230	3	Failure to wear a seat belt	602
4	Failure to use a seat belt	208	4	Texting/using a handheld phone	163
5	Improper turn	154	5	Improper lane change	150

Table 9: Top Five Citations – U.S.

Passenger Vehicle Drivers	Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers
	Violation	Citations		Violation	Citations
1	Speeding/basic speed law/driving too fast for conditions	6,449	1	Speeding/basic speed law/driving too fast for conditions	1,325
2	Failure to use a seat belt	1,117	2	Failure to wear a seat belt	791
3	Distracted driving/using a handheld phone	480	3	Failure to obey traffic control device	498
4	Possession/use/under influence of alcohol	320	4	Texting/using a handheld phone	246
5	Improper lane change	255	5	Improper lane change	70

In addition to the data submitted to CVSA from its member jurisdictions in Canada, Mexico and U.S., the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) also participated in this year’s Operation Safe Driver Week. The agency ran an investigative event, parallel to the Operation Safe Driver Week roadside activities, targeting motor carriers with a history of crashes and unsafe driving behavior.

FMCSA’s investigative event ran for seven weeks, from June 7 to July 16, with participation from all its divisions. The agency prioritized moderate-risk and high-risk carriers for remote on-site and off-site investigations.

FMCSA field staff completed 90 high-risk and 201 moderate-risk carrier investigations, resulting in 64 conditional ratings and 30 unsatisfactory ratings. Three driver notices of claim are planned, 21 carriers entered the denial of access process, 10 out-of-service orders were issued and one pattern of safety violations case is under review. Out of 291 investigations, nine resulted in enforcement for the violation of 392.2 – unsafe driving.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 94% of car crashes are caused by drivers. And when a passenger vehicle collides with a large commercial motor vehicle, the result can be catastrophic. The majority of deaths in large-truck crashes are occupants of the passenger vehicle (71%), followed by the truck’s occupants (18%). CVSA’s Operation Safe Driver Week aims to prevent CMV-involved crashes through interactions between law enforcement and drivers.

“Since we know that most crashes are caused by drivers, the best way to prevent crashes is to start with the cause – drivers,” said CVSA President Capt. John Broers with South Dakota Highway Patrol. “If seeing a patrol car causes a driver to slow down in a high-risk crash area of the roadway, then we’ll put patrol cars in that area. If being stopped by an officer causes that driver to be more conscientious, then our officers will pull over unsafe drivers. We will continue to do our part to make our roadways as safe as possible.”

In partnership with the federal government, the law enforcement community and the motor carrier industry, CVSA launched the Operation Safe Driver program to reduce the number of deaths and injuries resulting from dangerous driving behaviors.

The American Transportation Research Institute today released research that describes a framework for electric vehicle (EV) taxation to support transportation infrastructure.  Through a small tax on the electricity that is used in transportation, the report identifies an approach to efficiently connecting the growing number of U.S. electric vehicles with highway trust fund (HTF) revenue streams. 

At present, electric vehicles do not contribute substantively to state and federal highway trust funds. In fact, there are numerous programs that subsidize the use of electric vehicles, thus exacerbating the infrastructure investment deficit. ATRI’s analysis quantifies this revenue loss at more than $4 billion over the next 10 years.  

The report suggests that U.S. electric utilities are well equipped to begin collection of a per-kWh charge of 2.1 cents for transportation-related electricity consumption in the coming years. Using a phased approach, utilities would identify, measure and tax electricity that is used for transportation – starting first with electricity that is dispersed through public charging stations and residential smart chargers. 

“This analysis demonstrates how an electricity tax can easily emulate all the key components of a fuel tax. Moving forward with an efficient utility-based approach will help EV owners support the infrastructure that they use every day,” said Paul Enos, CEO of the Nevada Trucking Association. 

For access to the full report please visit ATRI’s website at TruckingResearch.org.

IMPORTANT Webinar - Register today!

The Owner-Operator Model - Avoiding Misclassification

This Thursday, September 30th - 10 am - 11 am

Guest Speaker Greg Feary, Scopelitis Law Firm

This webinar will discuss:

• Current legal landscape & the future outlook
• Current Case Law Trends
• National landscape Heat Maps
• Beast Practices for motor carriers utilizing owner-operators

Complementary Webinar sponsored by NJMTA Member True North Insurance for NJMTA members

Click HERE REGISTER

The American Transportation Research Institute today launched a new data collection initiative to better understand the motivating factors for being an owner-operator, independent contractor, or company driver. This research was identified by ATRI’s Research Advisory Committee as a top research priority in 2020. 

Drivers are asked to provide input through an online data collection form that will measure what job-related factors contributed to becoming an owner-operator, independent contractor, or company driver and whether those expectations have been met. This timely research will provide valuable insight into understanding how drivers could be impacted by legislative and regulatory actions that may impact the way in which drivers are classified. 

“This ATRI data collection initiative will be critical to understanding why drivers choose the type of employment they do. The motivations behind these choices and their level of satisfaction are important for understanding what types of employment opportunities drivers are looking for and why,” said Tom Weakley, OOIDA Foundation Director of Operations and a member of ATRI’s Research Advisory Committee. 

The data collection form is available online here and drivers are asked to complete the survey by Friday, September 17, 2021. All submitted data will be kept strictly confidential and participants will receive an advance copy of the full report.