Highway congestion costs trucking $63.4 billion

by Truck News

ARLINGTON, Va. — Congestion on the US National Highway System (NHS) has added more than $63.4 billion in operational costs to the trucking industry in 2015, according to recent research released by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI).

Using a number of data sources including its unique truck GPS database, ATRI calculated delay on the NHS totaling more than 996 million hours of lost productivity, which equates to 362,243 commercial truck drivers sitting idle for a working year.

ATRI’s analysis also documented the states, metropolitan areas, and counties that were most impacted by these delays and subsequent cost increases. The top 10 states experienced costs of more than $2 billion each, with Florida and Texas leading with more than $5 billion each. Traffic congestion was the most severe in urban areas, ATRI reported.

The data collected also demonstrated the impact of congestion costs on a per-truck basis, with an average increased cost of $22,676 for trucks that travel 100,000 miles annually.

“Congestion-related costs continue to rise and impact our supply chains. A five minute delay for each UPS vehicle, every day, costs UPS $105 million annually in additional operating costs. ATRI’s report quantifies this drain on the economy which must be addressed through targeted infrastructure investments,” said Rich McArdle, president of UPS Freight.

You can download the full report on ATRI’s website.


Have your say


This is a moderated forum. Comments will no longer be published unless they are accompanied by a first and last name and a verifiable email address. (Today's Trucking will not publish or share the email address.) Profane language and content deemed to be libelous, racist, or threatening in nature will not be published under any circumstances.

*