Trucking Costs From Congestion Break Record

The trucking industry incurred $94.6 billion in costs in 2021 due to highway traffic congestion, according to a new report. 

That cost was the highest yet recorded by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), which issued the report, and was a 27-percent increase from 2016, which was used as a baseline.  

On a state level, California, Texas and Florida were the top three contributors to the nation’s congestion costs, accounting for $9 billion, $7.26 billion and $7.16 billion, respectively. New York City was listed as the most problematic region for congestion, with $5.5 billion in annual costs. 

In total, 1.27 billion hours of productivity were lost in 2021 to traffic snarls, according to the data, along with over 6.7 billion gallons of diesel fuel being wasted. 

The 2021 numbers are the most current available, being culled from various data sources by ATRI.