Trucking gets tougher every year, and 2025 brings more trucking industry challenges. Fuel costs keep climbing, good drivers are harder to find, and brokers take forever to pay while expecting faster service than ever before.
You need real solutions that actually work on the road, especially when it comes to keeping money in your pocket and avoiding delays that kill your bottom line. In this article, we’ll cover the ten biggest problems truckers face in 2025 and show you practical ways to beat them with help from partners like OTR Solutions.
1. Economic Uncertainty and Freight Demand
Freight rates go up and down like a roller coaster, making it nearly impossible to predict what you’ll earn next month. Shippers cut back on loads while brokers squeeze rates, leaving you fighting for scraps in lanes that used to pay decent money.
Your best bet is spreading out across different types of freight and paying attention to where demand is heading before everyone else catches on. Smart carriers can stay competitive even during a freight recession by building relationships with multiple brokers instead of putting all their eggs in one basket.
2. Supply Chain Disruptions
Delays happen everywhere these days, from ports backing up to warehouses that can’t get their act together. You show up on time but sit for hours waiting to get loaded or unloaded, which eats into your driving time and messes up your next appointment.
The carriers who survive build backup plans and stick with brokers who actually care about keeping things moving. Supply chain disruptions hit every route differently, so spotting trouble early helps you avoid getting stuck.
3. Rising Operational Costs
Everything costs more now, from diesel and tires to insurance and truck payments, while freight rates barely budge. You’re stuck choosing between fixing your truck properly or putting food on the table, which isn’t really a choice at all.
Smart truckers fight back with fuel cards like the OTR Fuel Card that saves you an average of 50 cents per gallon at over 2,500 truck stops. Every dollar you save on fuel stays in your pocket.
4. Equipment Availability and Instability
New trucks cost a fortune and take forever to get, so you’re stuck running older equipment that breaks down at the worst possible times. Parts are hard to find and expensive when you do track them down, turning simple repairs into major headaches.
The best approach is to stay proactive with regular maintenance and plan to keep running trucks longer. New operators who understand trucking startup costs can budget realistically for repairs and replacements, avoiding surprise bills that drain their savings.
5. Driver Shortage and Workforce Demographics
The trucking workforce is aging, and younger people aren’t entering the profession in large enough numbers to replace them. According to the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the median age of over-the-road truck drivers is 46, compared with just 42 for all U.S. workers. Some sectors are even older — private fleet drivers have a median age of 57.
The industry also misses out on potential talent because federal law restricts interstate driving to those 21 and older, leaving carriers unable to tap into the 18–20 year-old workforce that often chooses jobs in construction, retail, or food service instead. Even when new drivers do enter the field, they typically begin training around age 35, further highlighting the demographic gap between current drivers and the next generation.
Carriers that want to overcome this shortage need to offer competitive pay, flexible scheduling, and mentorship programs where experienced drivers help newcomers learn the ropes. Bridging the gap with younger drivers while retaining older ones is critical to keeping freight moving.
6. Driver Retention and Turnover
Turnover in trucking remains one of the industry’s biggest challenges. According to the ATA, annual driver turnover at large truckload carriers still hovers near 90% — far higher than the U.S. average quit rate across all industries.
A 2024 report from the National Academies on pay and working conditions in long-distance trucking found that time away from home, pay variability, and demanding work schedules are major contributors to driver dissatisfaction and turnover. These challenges make it difficult for carriers to keep drivers long-term, even as overall quit rates across the U.S. workforce have fallen.
Carriers that keep drivers focused on pay, flexible home time, and treating drivers like the professionals they are. Many also highlight events like National Truck Driver Appreciation Week to show drivers their hard work matters, backed by support tools that make life on the road easier.
7. Regulatory Pressure and Compliance
Hours of Service rules, safety regulations, and electronic logging requirements create piles of paperwork that take time away from actually driving and making money. One mistake can cost you thousands in fines or put you out of service when you can least afford it.
Stay ahead of the game with good record-keeping and tools that help you track your own compliance status. OTR Solutions offers the Safety Score Monitor in the OTR Mobile App to help you keep an eye on your safety ratings, plus partnerships for DOT testing programs and audit preparation services. Keeping up with new trucking regulations helps you avoid surprises that could shut down your operation or cost serious money in penalties and legal fees.
8. Environmental Regulations
Emissions standards keep getting stricter, while electric trucks aren’t ready for real-world trucking yet. You’re caught between expensive new equipment that might not work for your routes and regulations that penalize older, reliable trucks.
Look into cleaner options where they make sense for your operation while highlighting your environmental efforts to shippers who prioritize sustainability. Details like how fuel weight affects your loads help you optimize current operations while planning for whatever comes next in truck technology.
9. Technology Integration and Cybersecurity
New technology promises to make everything easier, but costs a lot upfront and creates security risks you never had to worry about before. Hackers target trucking companies because they handle valuable cargo information and payment data that criminals can sell.
Train yourself and your team on cybersecurity best practices while choosing platforms that protect your data without breaking the bank. Balancing costs with benefits when adopting new trucking technology means picking tools that actually solve problems instead of just looking impressive to competitors.
OTR Solutions offers the top-rated OTR Mobile App and partners with industry-leading TMS providers to support all your operation’s tech needs so you can protect your data and keep hauling freight.
10. Cashflow and Slow Payments
Waiting weeks or months for brokers to pay creates serious money problems when you need fuel, repairs, or truck payments right now.
Factoring invoices along with Bolt Instant Payments gets you paid the same day without worrying about chargebacks if brokers don’t pay up. Quick access to your money means you can handle unexpected costs like lumper fees without sweating whether you’ll have enough cash to get home.
How OTR Solutions Helps Carriers Overcome Trucking Industry Challenges
Trucking will always be challenging, but you don’t have to face these problems alone when smart solutions are available. The carriers who thrive partner with companies that actually know trucking and offer real help instead of just empty promises.
OTR Solutions provides TRUE Non-Recourse Factoring, fuel savings through the OTR Fuel Card, and instant payment access through Bolt to keep your cashflow steady and your costs low.
Apply today and see how OTR Solutions can help you build a stronger, more profitable trucking business that survives whatever the industry throws at you.