The cost of U.S. traffic congestion has jumped to $115 billion in 2009 from $24 billion in 1982, and trucks are shouldering a disproportionate share of the cost, according to a report released this week.
Congestion in the nation’s largest urban areas cost the trucking industry $33 billion in delay time and wasted fuel last year, said the annual Urban Mobility Report by the Texas Transportation Institute of Texas A&M University, released Thursday.
While trucks account for just 7% of the total vehicle miles traveled, the $33 billion represents 29% of the total congestion costs, the report said.
Unlike the cost of congestion for cars, the cost of truck congestion “was passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices” and the fallout from the congestion extends “far beyond the region where the congestion occurs,” the report said.
Because trucks carry goods to suppliers, markets, and manufacturers, delays in arrival can cause whole production lines to close down, it said.
“The report confirms that congestion has a significant impact on the cost of moving freight, which is ultimately borne by Americans in the form of higher shelf prices, lower incomes and lost jobs,” said Darrin Roth, director of highway operations for American Trucking Associations.
It is past time for the nation to make the necessary investments in highway infrastructure that would reduce congestion and, over the long run, pay for themselves, he said.
Chicago and the Washington, D.C., metro areas tied for the worst traffic congestion and most delays, the report said.
