Dive Brief:
- Anticipating roads and highways crowded by viewers of the upcoming solar eclipse, states are taking measures to limit truck traffic, particularly extra-wide and superloads, Transport Topics reported last week.The path of totality, or the strip where the total eclipse is visible, runs diagonally across the continent from Oregon to South Carolina.
- Congestion is costly for the trucking industry, with the latest data citing $63.4 billion lost to excess traffic in 2015. Total costs from the eclipse are likely to be high with service cuts abounding.
- The number of those living along the path of totality is roughly 12.25 million, or 3.8% of the population; estimates are that between 1.85 and 7.4 million will visit the path.
Dive Insight:
Traffic will be heavy and slow-moving next week, before and after the eclipse, as thousands of Americans travel to see the sun's corona. Truckers, owner-operators, 3PLs and freight-forwarders should be aware of potential delays and traffic hiccups before, during and after the day of the eclipse.
Because some states may limit truck traffic, truckers may benefit from staggering trips and deliveries over the weekend, or at least discuss strategies for handling gridlock and post notices to consumers that some deliveries may be delayed due to eclipse traffic.
Congestion is already a costly problem for the trucking industry, but because the industry expects intense congestion next week, truckers should be able to brainstorm practical ways to take keep costs down as much as possible.
