American Transportation Research Institute

What American Transportation Research Institute does

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit research organization founded in 1954 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, with offices in Washington, Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Sacramento. It is the trucking industry's designated research arm, producing industry-standard reports such as the annual Operational Costs of Trucking, the Top 100 Truck Bottlenecks (15th edition in 2026), Critical Issues in the Trucking Industry, the Trucking Litigation forensic analysis, and the Fight Against Cargo Theft, alongside traffic incident management research under contract to the FHWA. ATRI's underlying technology is an extensive truck GPS database collected since 2002 across 325+ specific locations, a proprietary speed/volume algorithm for chokepoint identification, large-N operational-cost surveys (178,091 combination truck-tractors in the most recent cycle), and litigation/cargo-theft forensic methods.

ATRI serves a dual constituency: (1) for-hire and private motor carriers plus drivers, who are the primary research subjects and beneficiaries of its benchmarking, cost, safety, and litigation research, and (2) government transportation agencies — most notably the U.S. DOT (which ATRI supports by managing the Freight Mobility Program) and 31 state DOTs and 11 of the 15 largest MPOs. Its revenue mix combines federal and state government contracts, industry/member contributions, and charitable giving; all research outputs are distributed at no charge through truckingresearch.org, an email newsletter (ATRInsider), industry conferences, and direct agency engagement. There is no commercial product, no software pricing, and no disclosed financials.

Name

American Transportation Research Institute

Legal name

American Transportation Research Institute

Website

https://truckingresearch.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1954

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ATRI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit trucking research organization founded in 1954 that produces industry-standard reports on operating costs, bottlenecks, litigation, cargo theft, and driver demographics for motor carriers, the U.S. DOT, 31 state DOTs, and 11 of the 15 largest U.S. MPOs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Transportation Research Services

NAICS

Other Support Activities for Transportation (4889)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Industry & Sector Research (Syndicated/Custom) (BPAHALAE)

Keywords

• Freight transportation research
• Trucking industry analysis
• Transportation data analytics
• Commercial vehicle research
• Logistics research

Headquarters

HQ city

Arlington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Government Contracts: ATRI manages the U.S. DOT's Freight Mobility Program and conducts research under contract to federal agencies including FHWA. This represents core funding for transportation research initiatives.
2. Industry Research Funding: Research sponsored by the trucking industry, motor carriers, and related organizations. ATRI releases reports funded by industry contributions and member support.
3. Charitable Contributions: ATRI accepts charitable contributions to support its work as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit research organization.

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ATRI conducts independent transportation research for the U.S. trucking industry, producing annual and ad-hoc research reports covering operational costs, traffic bottlenecks and congestion, trucking litigation and nuclear verdicts, cargo theft, driver demographics, insurance costs, and freight mobility. Research outputs are distributed as free downloadable reports to motor carriers, federal and state transportation agencies, metropolitan planning organizations, and policymakers.

Product overview

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit research organization that produces industry research reports and analysis rather than a unified software product or platform. ATRI's portfolio consists of distinct research publications covering critical trucking industry topics including the annual Operational Costs of Trucking report, Top 100 Truck Bottlenecks analysis, Critical Issues in the Trucking Industry survey, Trucking Litigation forensic analysis, Cargo Theft research, Cost of Congestion reports, Driver Demographics studies, and Renewable Diesel analysis. These reports are made available as downloadable PDFs through the organization's website and are used by industry stakeholders, federal and state transportation agencies, and policymakers for decision-making.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Operational Costs of Trucking Report
• Top 100 Truck Bottlenecks Analysis
• Critical Issues in the Trucking Industry Report
• Trucking Litigation: A Forensic Analysis
• The Fight Against Cargo Theft Report
• Cost of Congestion to the Trucking Industry Report
• Driver Demographics Research
• Renewable Diesel Research
• Traffic Incident Management Research
• Trucking's Rising Insurance Costs Research

Quantifiable outcome

• Congestion cost quantified at $108.8 billion annually to the trucking industry
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Project 61minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 April 2026Project 61, a nonprofit focused on truck driver health, applauded ATRI for including driver health research on its 2026 research agenda. The partnership focuses on examining DOT medical card status and operational impacts.
• U.S. Department of TransportationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerATRI manages the U.S. DOT's Freight Mobility Program and conducts research under contract to federal agencies including FHWA. This is a foundational relationship supporting ATRI's core research mission.
• Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerATRI conducts annual Traffic Incident Management Self-Assessment analyses for FHWA, covering the 75 top metropolitan areas. ATRI led development of Integrated Corridor Management primers for FHWA's ICM program.
• State Departments of TransportationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerATRI has provided freight mobility and performance measures technical assistance to 31 state DOTs across the United States, helping them analyze and improve freight transportation infrastructure.
• Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerATRI provides technical assistance to 11 of the 15 largest MPOs in the U.S. for freight mobility analysis and performance measurement.
• Research Advisory CommitteecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerATRI's Research Advisory Committee (RAC), with members from across the trucking industry, selects annual research priorities. The 2025-2026 RAC selected six priority research areas including driver coaching, Beyond Compliance program, and driver health.
• American Trucking Associations (ATA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerATRI is the trucking industry's research organization and releases its annual Critical Issues report at ATA's Management Conference and Exhibition. ATA represents the trucking industry's interests in policy and advocacy.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Truckload Carriers Association: TCA is the national association representing truckload carriers and serves a major subset of ATRI's primary research audience. TCA and ATRI share research, policy, and benchmarking functions targeting the same truckload carrier decision-makers.
• Mineta Transportation Institute: Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) is a transportation research university center producing peer-reviewed research on freight, mobility, and policy. MTI and ATRI directly compete in the federally aligned transportation research space, with overlapping government and policy-focused outputs.
• Texas A&M Transportation Institute: TTI is one of the largest university-based transportation research institutes in the U.S., producing congestion, mobility, and freight research for state DOTs and USDOT. TTI competes with ATRI in traffic and freight mobility research engagements, particularly with state-level transportation agencies.
• University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute: UMTRI is a leading academic transportation research institute producing safety, driver behavior, and vehicle technology research. UMTRI overlaps with ATRI on driver demographics, safety technology, and automotive policy research with comparable academic and government funding sources.

Broad incumbents

• American Trucking Associations: ATA is the national trade association for the U.S. trucking industry, ATRI's most closely aligned industry body. ATA's annual Management Conference hosts the release of ATRI's Critical Issues report, and the two organizations share overlapping membership, policy advocacy, and research dissemination functions.
• Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Volpe is USDOT's federally funded research and development center covering multimodal transportation. Volpe directly competes for federal transportation research contracts and overlaps with ATRI on freight, safety, and infrastructure research engagements.
• Intelligent Transportation Society of America: ITS America is the principal membership organization for intelligent transportation systems and a source of top research awards ATRI has won. The two organizations share audiences across public agencies, technology vendors, and researchers working on traffic management and freight mobility.
• Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance: CVSA is the organization that sets commercial vehicle inspection and safety standards across North America. CVSA is a peer in the trucking safety and compliance research ecosystem, addressing overlapping regulatory, enforcement, and CSA-related research questions.

Others

• National Safety Council: National Safety Council is a broad workplace and roadway safety organization. NSC is a thematic peer in trucking safety research and driver health, addressing adjacent injury, fatigue, and risk topics that overlap with ATRI's safety and wellness research agenda.

Regional players

• Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association: OOIDA represents the interests of professional truck drivers and small-carrier owner-operators. OOIDA overlaps with ATRI's driver demographic and detention/parking research, and both organizations publish industry advocacy research on behalf of trucking workforces.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Truck_Research
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/american-transportation-research-institute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about American Transportation Research Institute