While the current recession has significantly reduced the amount of freight shipped on highways and interstates, new data suggest that the combination of a recovering economy and stimulus-funded highway projects will result in a higher volume of traffic and delays for shipping companies. Companies that move freight will have to build expected delays into their delivery schedule and shipping services may become more expensive due to time lost while freight sits in traffic jams. According to a report by traffic data provider Inrix, which released its National Traffic Scorecard recently, the reduced road congestion in 2008 was caused by an unusual combination of high unemployment and higher fuel prices.
The twice-a-year Inrix report claims that “2008 had both much higher fuel prices most of the year AND rising unemployment. Rather than checks and balances, the two factors snowballed, significantly dampening highway traffic and congestion. Traffic congestion decreased over the past 18 months and hit bottom in the second quarter of 2009,” said Bryan Mistele, president and CEO of Inrix. “Now our nation’s roadways are starting to jam up again. Traffic is a great indicator of the pulse of the economy and as the economy improves, we expect gridlock to head towards 2007’s record levels as people return to work, freight transportation increases and consumers switch back to vacations from staycations.”
The stimulus-funded highway projects planned across the country, especially in large urban areas, are expected to create more gridlock for commuters, freight services and anyone else on the road. Stimulus funds amounting to $48.1 billion have been allocated to the U.S. Department of Transportation for the construction or repair of roads, bridges, mass transit, airport construction and other transportation-related projects. Of that amount, $26.5 billion has been set aside for more than 7988 approved projects in 55 states and U.S. territories. While these projects will surely help to reduce road congestion in the long term, closed lanes and reduced speeds in construction zones will surely cost shipping companies more to conduct business in the short term. Freight companies will see increased costs of doing business through time lost and fuel burned while sitting in traffic, higher labor costs, lower productivity and other factors.
The Inrix report analyzes freight traffic patterns. While compiling information, it was discovered that while the country’s busiest long-haul freight roadways cut across parts of 28 states, more than 95 percent of the mileage comes from only 10 states.
”Our findings highlight the national interconnectivity of the truck and highway portion of our national freight system and demonstrate that changes in freight movement trends and the effects of system improvements can have a significant impact on overall traffic congestion,” said Rick Schuman, vice president of public sector, Inrix. “The analysis highlights that long haul freight movement is spread equally between urban and rural roadways, underscoring that the development of a national freight strategy to optimize highway network efficiency and reliability—for both trucks and passenger vehicles—is in the interest of both rural and urban constituencies.”
In addition to increased congestion on roads as the economy improves, freight moved by rail is also expected to experience significant delays through bottlenecks at major freight hubs.
