ATRI Announces Six Research Priorities for 2026

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) plans to prioritize six topics for research in 2026, including a focus on disruptive weather, industry reputation, and driver training. Other topics include differences in operating costs across states, evaluating the impact of state and federal regulations, and quantifying the effect of driver health conditions on operating costs.

"The topics proposed by committee members this year set the tone for the environment the industry is currently in," Andy Owens, chairman of ATRI's Research Advisory Committee, told Trucking Dive. This is the first time since 2019 that the annual plan has listed more than five topics.

The six topics identified this year are as follows:

• Identify driver guidance best practices that have the greatest impact on safety;
• Study potential incentives for "beyond compliance" programs where fleets voluntarily improve safety behaviors;
• Develop regulatory cost-benefit analyses while assessing stakeholder understanding and enforcement levels;
• Advance benchmarks for state business-friendliness rankings and detail cost differences across regions;
• Measure the impact of driver health on operating costs by reviewing driver medical card status;
• Investigate how industry and government can better respond to major weather events such as hurricanes, wildfires, and blizzards that disrupt freight movement.

Owens noted that ATRI's Research Advisory Committee typically consists of about 35 members, including carrier executives, attorneys, law enforcement personnel, and other stakeholders. ATRI staff help write white papers for the members' ideas, which produced 25 research proposals this year.

Committee members discuss these ideas for nearly a day, then vote on which topics to advance, followed by another vote on the five recommendations the committee ultimately recommends. ATRI's board then approves the final list.

The organization also releases its annual "Top Industry Issues" list, highlighting the topics of greatest concern to industry stakeholders. Last year's industry ranking covered areas such as insurance costs, diesel emission regulations, and driver training standards.