Congestion Cost Trucking Industry Nearly $50 Billion In 2014
Congestion on the nation’s highways added more than $49.6 billion in operational costs for the trucking industry in 2014, according to research released on April 19 by the American Transportation Research Institute.
ATRI’s data analysis showed that trucks were delayed for more than 728 million hours, or 264,500 drivers sat idle for a working year. According to ATRI, more than a dozen states experienced congestion costs of over $1 billion each due to congestion, with Florida and Texas leading with over $4 billion each.
Per ATRI’s annual list of bottlenecks, 95% of the congestion costs occurred in metropolitan areas. On a per-truck basis, trucks that travel 150,000 miles annually averaged a congestion cost of $26,625.
ATRI’s analysis includes a congestion database to provide granular cost information to transportation planning officials on the hours of delay and associated cost by major jurisdiction type and road level.
"Unfortunately, we've come to expect traffic congestion as a part of our daily lives, but ATRI's latest analysis illustrates what a significant productivity drain that congestion is on our industry and the economy at large," said David Congdon, CEO of Old Dominion Freight Line.
