ATRI invites carriers to share Operational Costs data

The American Transportation Research Institute is calling on for-hire motor carriers to participate in its annual Operational Costs of Trucking report.

ATRI’s Operational Costs report is used by industry decisionmakers as a barometer of freight market conditions. It’s considered the leading public benchmarking tool for motor carriers of all sectors, from owner-operators to 10,000-plus truck fleets, ATRI said. The report tracks cost metrics such as driver pay, equipment expenditures, and insurance premiums, as well as key performance indicators such as non-revenue mileage, driver utilization, mileage between breakdowns, and revenue per truck per week.

“There are signs of growing opportunities for trucking in 2026, but only if fleets can maintain disciplined, nimble operations,” Andrew Hadland, Hirschbach Motor Lines chief financial officer, said in a news release. “ATRI’s Operational Costs of Trucking and the customized report we receive as participants are important inputs for ensuring healthy performance in our costs and operations despite economic headwinds.”

All participating motor carriers receive a customized report that compares their costs and operations to an anonymized peer group of the same sector and size. New in 2026, customized reports for multi-year participants also will include year-over-year comparisons to more directly evaluate trends over time.

For-hire motor carriers are invited to participate by April 24. Data for the year 2025 can be submitted online or by PDF: both forms are available on ATRI’s website along with a sample customized report and other helpful information for participants.

All confidential data is protected and published only in anonymized averages.