Traffic congestion on U.S. highways added $108.8 billion in costs to the trucking industry in 2022 according to the latest Cost of Congestion study published by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI).  This finding, part of ATRI’s ongoing highway performance measurement research, marks a new record-high national congestion cost.

ATRI utilized a variety of data sources, including its substantial truck GPS database and Operational Costs benchmarks, to calculate the impacts of trucking delays on major U.S. roadways.  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 a much greater rate. 

As a result, the overall cost of congestion increased by 15.0 percent year-over-year.  This level of delay is equivalent to more than 430,000 commercial truck drivers sitting idle for one work year and an average cost of $7,588 for every registered combination truck.

Pennsylvania’s statewide costs ranked eighth in the country at over $3.7 billion in 2022, a 13.4 percent increase from 2021.

At the metropolitan level, Philadelphia’s total cost of congestion was nearly $2.4 billion in 2022, an increase of 12.1 percent from 2021.  The metro had the fourth highest costs among metropolitan areas nationally.

“During the holiday season, it’s easy to recognize that congestion in the trucking industry impacts more than just truckers. It causes delays in getting holiday gifts where they need to go and increases the cost of goods under the tree,” said Rebecca Oyler, President and CEO of the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association.

“It’s also important to recognize that this issue in the Philadelphia metropolitan area is exacerbated by a critical shortage of truck parking,” said Oyler, citing a 2023 Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) report on the truck parking issue. This report found that most of the roadway network around the Philadelphia region is plagued by a high demand for truck parking. “If adequate truck parking was available to stop and rest as well as stage for local deliveries, truckers traveling in southeastern Pennsylvania could plan their routes better, avoid inefficient detours searching for spaces, and avoid parking in areas not designed for trucks. All of these problems can lead to more congestion.”

“In addition to ensuring that Pennsylvania targets strategic infrastructure investment specifically toward reducing congestion and bottlenecks in the state, we also urge policymakers to invest in truck parking as part of the remedy to this issue,” said Oyler.

A copy of this report is available here.

ATRI is the trucking industry’s 501(c)(3) not-for-profit research organization. It is engaged in critical research relating to freight transportation’s essential role in maintaining a safe, secure and efficient transportation system.