ATRI 2026 Operational Costs Survey Opens; New Multiyear Comparisons and Key Metrics Highlighted

ATRI launched the 2026 Operational Costs of Trucking survey on Feb. 23 with a submission deadline of April 24, accepting confidential 2025 cost and operational data online or via PDF. The survey captures granular metrics—driver pay, equipment expenditures, insurance premiums and KPIs such as non-revenue mileage, driver utilization, mileage between breakdowns and revenue per truck per week—to produce anonymized industry averages and customized fleet benchmarking.

Survey scope, submission and confidentiality

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) collects fleet-level cost inputs and operational data to build sector- and size-specific benchmarks. All data are published only as anonymized averages, and participating fleets receive a bespoke report comparing their performance to an anonymized peer group. Submissions for calendar-year 2025 data are accepted through ATRI’s portal at truckingresearch.org.

What fleets should prepare to submit

Financials: driver wages, benefits, insurance premiums, leasing vs. ownership costs.
Equipment & Maintenance: repair and maintenance, tires, depreciation.
Fuel and non-fuel expenses: fuel costs (reported separately), tolls, permits.
Operational KPIs: non-revenue miles, driver utilization rates, mean miles between breakdowns, revenue per truck per week.

Key metrics table (selected)

公制	Why it matters	How ATRI uses it
费用 per mile	Primary unit-cost indicator for pricing and margin analysis	Published as industry averages and fleet-specific comparisons
Non-fuel expenses per mile	Signals structural cost pressures beyond fuel volatility	Tracks multi-year trends; flagged as a record in 2024
Driver pay	Directly ties to retention, recruitment, and operational stability	Benchmarked across fleet sizes and segments

What changed for 2026 reporting

For the first time, ATRI will include 同比 comparisons in customized reports for multiyear participants, enabling fleets to evaluate trends more closely. That enhancement gives finance and operations teams a clearer view of how discrete cost items and KPIs evolve relative to peer groups—handy when you’re trying to explain a profit-and-loss swing to a CFO who likes hard numbers.

Hirschbach Motor Lines CFO Andrew Hadland noted that disciplined, nimble operations will determine whether fleets can capture growing opportunities in 2026. Hirschbach, ranked No. 58 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list and No. 4 among refrigerated van fleets, cited ATRI’s customized report as a key input for cost and operational performance management.

2024 baseline and recent trends

ATRI’s prior analysis for 2024 established a baseline many carriers still use for planning. Key points:

Average cost to operate a truck in 2024: $2.26 per mile (a 0.4% decrease year-over-year).
Non-fuel expenses rose 3.6% to $1.78 per mile, a record for non-fuel costs.
Driver wages increased 2.4% in 2024 but were still about 0.5% below the inflation rate.

Those data indicate a two-speed dynamic: fuel, repair and maintenance costs eased in 2024 while labor costs continued to tick upward—driver pay remains the primary long-term pressure point. Drivers themselves rate pay and truck parking as top concerns, according to ATRI’s critical issues surveys.

Operational implications for carriers and shippers

Benchmarking helps pricing strategy: knowing peer costs per mile supports rate negotiations and contract renewals.
Maintenance and downtime metrics inform fleet replacement and reliability programs.
Driver pay benchmarks guide recruiting and retention budgets in tight labor markets.
Insurance and litigation trends influence risk management and procurement strategies.

I once sat down with a fleet manager who said, “You live or die by your numbers.” That’s blunt, but true: granular ATRI data feed dispatch decisions, asset allocation, and whether a truck routes empty or finds a load—small margins, big consequences.

How participation benefits logistics planning

Participation yields three practical payoffs:

Peer benchmarking: Compare your cost structure against similar fleets to spot inefficiencies.
趋势 visibility: Year-over-year inputs help predict cost trajectories and set budgets.
Operational levers: KPIs guide investments in uptime, driver productivity and route optimization.

From a logistics perspective, aggregated ATRI outputs influence capacity forecasting, freight procurement strategies, and contract pricing. Freight brokers, shippers, and in-house logistics teams use these benchmarks to align expectations on rates and service levels—especially for international and bulk flows where margin sensitivity is high.

Related surveys and timelines

The American Trucking Associations (ATA) launched its 2026 ATA Driver Compensation Study on Jan. 13, with a participation deadline of March 30. Together, these industry datasets give a fuller picture of compensation, labor market dynamics and operating costs—useful when planning for seasonal peaks, relocation projects or big asset purchases like containers or trailers.

Highlights: ATRI’s 2026 survey tightens the analytic lens with year-on-year comparisons for repeat participants, while 2024 data showed non-fuel costs hitting record levels. Driver pay remains the most significant long-term cost pressure and driver concerns like truck parking continue to shape operational realities.

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To wrap up: ATRI’s 2026 Operational Costs of Trucking survey is a tactical tool for carriers, brokers and shippers to benchmark 费用 per mile, monitor non-fuel expense trends, and refine decisions around driver compensation, maintenance spending and capacity deployment. Accurate inputs into this dataset help inform freight rates, shipment planning, dispatch efficiency and haulage contracts. Whether you’re managing palletized distribution, international container flows, bulky goods relocation, or last-mile courier work, having reliable benchmarking data matters. GetTransport.com aligns with these needs by offering efficient, cost-effective transportation and moving services—covering office and home moves, furniture, vehicles and bulky shipments—so logistics teams and shippers can secure reliable freight, minimize surprises and keep deliveries on schedule.