Lawsuit crisis surges as economy continues to dominate trucking concerns
Economic concerns continue to dominate trucking industry stakeholders’ minds as the prolonged freight recession drags down optimism heading into 2026. But surging behind it are legal and regulatory worries that threaten fleet stability, according to the American Transportation Research Institute’s annual ranking of trucking’s most pressing issues.
Squeezed by a historic freight recession, the economy is the industry’s top concern for the third consecutive year, Rebecca Brewster, ATRI’s president, announced during ATA MCE.
But the litigation ecosystem now poses the greatest threat to fleet stability, with lawsuit abuse reform climbing one spot to No. 2—its highest ranking in the 21-year history of the survey—and its closely linked partner, insurance cost/availability, also moving up one spot to No. 3.
While the industry has faced growing uncertainty in 2025, ATRI’s Top 10 issues list saw significant disruption this year, including the loss of an industry mainstay: the driver shortage, an annual concern of ATA and fleet executives for decades, which continued its plunge. After falling to No. 9 in 2024, concern about finding drivers fell outside the top 10, to No. 12 overall, for the first time in the survey’s 21-year history.
The waning concerns about finding drivers can be attributed to the historic freight recession. Freight rates have remained stagnant across the industry, but per-mile trucking costs are rising faster than inflation. The authors of the ATRI study called this “a perfect storm that is squeezing fleet operating margins and necessitating extensive cost-cutting measures.”
Top 10 trucking concerns
The 2025 survey respondents were composed of motor carrier executives (46%), professional truck drivers (30%), and other freight stakeholders (23%). For the third year in a row, the whole stakeholder group ranked economic concerns above all others.
Here is a look at this year’s respondents’ view of trucking going into 2026, with four concerns making their first appearances in the ATRI Top 10:
1. Economy (No. 1 in 2024)
2. Lawsuit abuse reform (No. 3 in 2024)
3. Insurance cost/availability (No. 4 in 2024)
4. Truck parking (No. 2 in 2024)
5. Driver compensation (No. 5 in 2024)
6. Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) (No. 7 in 2024)
7. English Language Proficiency for drivers (New to Top 10)
8. Diesel emissions regulations (New to Top 10)
9. Driver training standards (New to Top 10)
10. Artificial intelligence (New to Top 10)