DENVER, Colo. — (September 8, 2022) — A new study by DAT Freight & Analytics, North America’s largest truckload freight marketplace, shows that truckers overwhelmingly feel that current public sentiment towards them is negative ahead of the nationwide initiative National Truck Driver Appreciation Week. 

The role that trucking and the nation’s 3.6 million professional truck drivers play in our supply chains and the economy at large has never been as critical but the new findings reveal that 34% of professional truck drivers polled feel disliked or hated, 17% feel mistrusted, and 46% feel the general public has apathetic or neutral feelings towards them.

Today, 72% of all goods and resources in the U.S. touch the sides of a truck, accounting for approximately $700.4 billion worth of goods yearly. It is estimated that if the country’s truckers stopped working for just one week, the supply of food, water, gas, medical supplies, and consumer goods would plummet, and waste and contamination would rise.

The hope is that this year’s National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, September 11-17, will encourage Americans in all fifty states to find ways of showing their appreciation for the country’s professional truckers. 

“The findings from our research are alarming because truck drivers impact many aspects of our daily lives,” said Claude Pumilia, DAT President and CEO. “We therefore want to take this opportunity to encourage everyone to show their support for our country’s truckers either in-person or on social media. Anyone can join the conversation by using the hashtag #thankyoutruckers to show your appreciation as a consumer and a citizen in this great country.”   

For more information about the survey findings reach out to PR@DAT.com.

National Truck Driver Appreciation Week
DAT will be hosting giveaways at truckstops in Commerce City, CO, and Portland, OR, at the Jubitz Travel Center & Truck Stop’s Driver Appreciation event on September 14. More information about National Truck Driver Appreciation Week can be found here.

Trucker Survey
DAT surveyed more than 260 carrier, broker and shipper customers about their business concerns, perception on public attitude towards their profession, and the sources they seek out for relevant news and information.