ATRI identifies its top research priorities for 2017
Truckers are facing a lot of issues, and every year the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) identifies top priority issues. The ATRI Board of Directors has approved the 2017 Top Research Priorities discovered by ATRI’s Research Advisory Committee.
ATRI’s list of top priorities ranges from technology to traffic congestion to government regulations. This year’s top research priorities are:
• Driver distraction
• Cumulative economic impact of trucking regulations
• Hours-of-service flexibility
• Impact of e-commerce on trucking
• Truck bottleneck trends
• Autonomous truck impacts on the truck driver
Regarding driver distraction, ATRI will look into all technologies within trucks that can exacerbate or reduce distraction, not limited to cellphones. ATRI will also examine how passenger car distracted driving affects the trucking industry.
HOS flexibility refers more specifically to that nation’s most congested roadways and how allowing truckers to be able to pause during peak hours can solve some of those congestion issues. This will tie into ATRI’s Annual Truck Bottleneck List.
In March, ATRI launched an online driver survey on key industry issues. More than 500 driver surveys were completed at the Mid-America Trucking Show before moving online.
