A Q&A with Santa, and Fleet Manager Mrs Claus, of North Pole Inc
It's no secret that traffic congestion is costly for trucking companies. But carriers may not completely understand just how much time is lost when a truck is idled due to traffic congestion.
Lost productivity at the hands of idling resulted in the trucking industry losing approximately $9.2 billion in 2013, according to a recent report by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI).
The ATRI was able to calculate the cost of mileage and congestion delays by using motor carrier financial data and billions of anonymous truck satellite data position reports.
And the more miles a truck was driven, the higher the costs associated with idle time. In its report, the ATRI found that a truck driven for 12,000 miles saw an average congestion cost of $408, while a truck driven for 150,000 miles had an average cost of $5,094.
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On average, of the 10.7 million nationally registered trucks, congestion added $864 in costs per truck.
Delays caused by congestion resulted in more than 141 million hours of lost productivity, which is the equivalent of 51,293 truck drivers sitting idle for a working year, the ATRI reported.
Highest Added Operational Costs – States
California led all states with more than $1.7 billion in costs, followed by Texas with more than $1 billion.
1. California – $1,706,026,586
2. Texas – $1,053,129,673
3. New York – $845,521,677
4. Illinois – $498,022,538
5. Pennsylvania – $421,508,565
6. Virginia – $330,400,920
7. Maryland – $315,461,693
8. Georgia – $304,113,197
9. Massachusetts – $303,355,238
10. Florida – $256,075,805
Highest Added Operational Costs – Metropolitan Areas
The Los Angeles metropolitan area led at nearly $1.1 billion, edging out New York City at $984 million. Congestion tended to be most severe in urban areas, with 89 percent of all congestion costs being concentrated on only 12 percent of the mileage.
1. Los Angeles – $1,081,748,940
2. New York – $984,287,793
3. Chicago – $466,939,275
4. Dallas – $406,130,727
5. Washington DC – $379,356,852
6. Houston – $373,603,620
7. Philadelphia – $292,141,937
8. San Francisco – $288,629,957
9. Boston – $278,238,672
10. Atlanta – $275,126, 523
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Shazia Haq is Teletrac's senior creative editor and contributor to the Teletrac blog. She has an impressive background in journalism and b2b content marketing. Shazia earned her master's degree in international politics from NYU and worked for both the LA Times and NPR before joining the Teletrac team. When she's not interviewing the major players in the commercial fleet space, you can find her at the dog park with her Lab puppies. Find more articles by Shazia Haq