Traffic congestion on U.S. highways tacked on a record-high $108.8 billion in cost to the trucking industry in 2022, according to the latest Cost of Congestion study published by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI).
This level of delay is equivalent to 435,686 truck drivers remaining idle for the entire year – an idling of 22% of all Class-A licensed commercial truck drivers – and an average cost of $7,588 for every registered combination truck, ATRI noted. Analysis also found the trucking industry wasted more than 6.4 billion gallons of diesel fuel in 2022 due to congestion, resulting in additional fuel costs of $32.1 billion.
The total hours of congestion decreased slightly in 2022 from record 2021 highs due to a softening freight market, but the cost of operating a truck during this period increased at greater rate, reaching $2 per mile for the first time. As a result, the overall cost of congestion increased by 15% year-over-year.
ATRI
“With rising costs putting pressure on businesses and consumers alike, minimizing delays caused by congestion is more important than ever,” said Frank Granieri, COO of supply chain solutions at A. Duie Pyle (CCJ Top 250, No. 59). “Addressing these challenges requires a shared commitment to modernize our infrastructure and strengthen the backbone of our economy: resilient and efficient supply chains.”
In addition to the national findings, ATRI’s analysis also documented state and metropolitan delays and related cost impacts. The top 10 states each experienced costs of more than $8 billion, led by Texas ($9.17B), California ($8.77B) and Florida ($8.44B). Combined, the top 10 states ultimately account for more than half (52%) of trucking’s congestion costs nationwide. Metropolitan areas with the highest congestion costs included New York City ($6.68B), Miami ($3.20B) and Chicago ($3.14B).
The region with the highest cost increase (21.4%) was the three-state Southwest region comprised of Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. New Mexico was one of only four states that saw a dip in costs.
ATRI
Truck speed
Average truck speed increased slightly to 52.41 mph, up from 51.95 mph in 2021, but remained below the sharp 2020 increase spurred by COVID-19-related workplace closures and quarantine orders that significantly reduced personal vehicle traffic. The mark posted in 2022 was, however, more than one mile per hour faster than average speeds in the period from 2016-2019. Only six states saw slower average truck speeds in 2022 than in 2021: Indiana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Michigan, and Kentucky. The latter was the only state in which speeds slowed by more than 1%.
Slight fluctuations in speeds and truck volume resulted in a 5.4% decrease in the total hours of congestion. After hitting a high of 1.27 billion hours in 2021, total congestion time dropped to 1.20 billion hours in 2022.
Miles traveled
Truck vehicle miles traveled dipped slightly, ATRI found, from 195,616 million miles in 2021 to 195,049 million miles in 2022. This year-over-year decrease was driven by a softening freight market during the second half of 2022; that said, truck volumes remained well above pre-Covid levels.
