Industrial internet-of-things company Samsara reports that commercial traffic on the nation’s roads has almost returned to pre-pandemic levels.
A new report from the fleet-management technology firm shows that, on average, states are 95 percent away from commercial traffic levels experienced before the coronavirus led to shutdown orders across the country.
States that had shorter shutdown orders have seen increases in commercial traffic, as much as 7 percent, above pre-pandemic levels in the week after Memorial Day. “While this may be partly due to lost activity during the holiday week, overall miles driven and vehicle activity trends continue to show increases above pre-COVID-19 baseline,” says the “4 Ways Reopening Has Changed US Commercial Transportation” report by Ali Akhtar, Samsara director of data science.
“States with prolonged shutdowns are starting to reach the same level of miles driven as states with only moderate shutdowns. This is despite having seen sharper declines in miles driven during peak periods of COVID-19. Taken together, this may demonstrate all states are starting to return to pre-COVID-19 commercial driving activity, regardless of shutdown severity.”
The commercial traffic levels vary by industry. The construction industry is seeing a 5 percent increase above pre-pandemic levels in commercial miles driven. In contrast, the oil and gas sector is operating at 60 percent pre-COVID levels, according to the report.
