The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has released its 2025 benchmarking report on operational costs, revealing the deep impact of the ongoing freight recession on trucking profitability. While average operational costs per mile declined slightly in 2024—primarily due to reduced fuel prices—most other expenses climbed, resulting in diminished margins across all for-hire trucking sectors. According to ATRI, the industry’s average operational cost fell by just one cent—from $2.27 in 2023 to $2.26 in 2024. However, when fuel is excluded, non-fuel operational costs increased by 3.6%, hitting a record $1.779 per mile. Fuel prices, the second-largest cost after driver wages, dropped 13% to 48.1 cents per mile, and repair and maintenance costs decreased marginally by 2%. In contrast, nearly every other category of expense—truck and trailer payments, tolls, insurance premiums, tires, and driver benefits—rose in 2024. Notably, truck and trailer payments increased by 8.3%, tolls by 11.8%, and driver… ...[TheTopNews] Read More.
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