What are the biggest challenges facing recruiting, HR and safety professionals in the trucking industry?
And what could be causing them?

We asked thousands of fleet professionals across North America to answer just that in our Recruiting, Retention and Compliance Survey. The results are in, and they shed light into some great insights into the state of our industry, and some potential solutions as well.

Let’s take a deep dive into what they reveal.

Our survey respondents

First off, let’s talk about who responded to the survey. Recipients were asked describe their role at the fleet, and to select all options which applied. More than 40% of our respondents said their role was in recruiting, while another 38% work in compliance. Another 18% said they were in HR, and 18% more said their role was in operations. Meanwhile, 35% said their role was in senior management.

The fleet size from respondents were varied. Nearly 60% said they had between 51 to 500 drivers. 18% said their fleets had more than 500 drivers. Almost 25% (23.5) reported having less than 50 drivers on the road. Nearly all respondents (94%) said their fleet was made up of mostly CDL drivers.

Geographically, nearly all respondents operate in the US (97%), with nearly half reporting they operate in Canada (47%). Respondents were asked to select all countries which applied.

Now that we know who responded, let’s take a look at what they had to say.

Does the public understand the trucking industry?

An overwhelming number of respondents – nearly 90% - agree: the general public has a poor understanding of the importance of our industry.

In our humble opinion, this is probably a consequence of doing our jobs well. When the supply chain is running seamlessly, the public doesn’t realize all the moving pieces involved to make it happen. It’s only when something goes awry that people take notice. It stands to reason that some public education about the vital role trucking plays is needed.

The top recruitment concern? Quality of applicants.

More than two-thirds – 71% - feel this is the biggest roadblock to finding and retaining the best drivers for their fleet. In fact, none of the other potential answers came close.

How, then, do fleets break this blockage? It starts with defining what makes someone a quality applicant, and how fleets can improve their recruitment strategy to attract them.

While “quality” can often be in the eye of the beholder, meeting basic requirements is a pretty good place to start. When fleets can identify applicants with the required experience early in the application process, it doesn’t just make recruitment easier, it saves everyone time in the long run – including any drivers who don’t meet the minimum.

It’s a good idea to use automated “knockout” questions on your applications in order to identify quality applicants right off the bat. It saves you time, and makes it easier to find the drivers you need.

Driver turnover rate is also a concern

While it’s true that driver turnover rates seem to be perennial concern, the numbers from our survey results show just how serious the issue is today.

Two-thirds (62%) of our respondents said their turnover rate was 25%, or one in four drivers. Just over one quarter of respondents said their turnover rate was a whopping 50%. These results show it’s time for the trucking industry to address this issue in 2026. To do this, it’s worth looking at what fleets say are their biggest driver retention challenges. On that note:

The biggest retention challenges are…

Based on our results, fleets believe their biggest retention challenge is a combination of compensation and driver home time. More than a third of fleets (35%) list financial compensation as their biggest retention challenge of all. This comes as no surprise, of course.

Meanwhile, home time pressure came in second, with just over a quarter of fleets (26%) calling it their biggest retention issue.

It’s true that the economy has been hard on trucking in the last year. Not every fleet is in a position to raise driver salaries, either. If your fleet knows that compensation is your biggest retention challenge, though, it’s prudent to try the following steps.

• Compare your compensation rates to similar fleets to yours, and see if there is room for improvement
• Ensure your team knows about their perks and benefits, such as their vacation time, medical and dental coverage, or special discounts at select partner stores.
• Look at how you’re keeping your drivers engaged, especially Gen Z drivers. Can your fleet be doing more to boost engagement?

Are fleets confident in their own compliance processes?

The replies here were a wakeup call: nearly half of all fleets who responded (47%) said they were either “somewhat confident” or “not very confident” in their compliance process.

Needless to say, that’s a concerning figure. For fleets who think their compliance needs improvement, the first step is to identify what stands to be improved. We’re going to recommend our handy compliance checklist to any fleet that wants to get to their root of any compliance concerns. Once fleets know where to begin improving their compliance processes, it becomes much easier to do!

What tools or technologies are fleets using to manage compliance?

This question (fleets were asked to check all which applied) offered plenty of insight into why many respondents lacked confidence in their compliance process.

Roughly a third said they were using spreadsheets (35%) and/or paper files (29%). Many TruckRight clients came to us because their old paper tracking systems left too much room for error, so this may be a cause for our respondents’ lack of compliance confidence.

Driver management platforms, on the other hand, can automate compliance tasks to help eliminate issues. You can find out more about how we can help right here.

How optimistic are fleets about the next 12 months in the trucking industry?

Despite everything challenging our industry right now, survey respondents show a surprisingly positive outlook. While a third (35%) say they’re somewhat pessimistic or very pessimistic, nearly 40% say they’re neutral on the state of the industry. The remaining 27% say they’re somewhat optimistic or very optimistic about what 2026 holds for trucking.

To be sure, those are not high numbers for positivity, but we were surprised that a majority of respondents were neutral or positive. We’re hoping that bodes well for what 2026 holds!

It’s also reassuring to know that many fleets’ issues can be resolved with the help of the right software.

Have any suggestions for future surveys? If so, then drop us a line to let us know your thoughts.