Transportation Management Center Video Recording and Archiving Best General Practices

Foreword

1. Report No.

FHWA-HOP-16-044

2. Government Accession No.

3. Recipient's Catalog No.

4. Title and Subtitle

Regional Assessment of Weather Impacts on Freight

5. Report Date

February 2016

6. Performing Organization Code

7. Author(s)

Daniel Krechmer, Noel Perry, Sarahjoy Gallaher, Marjorie McGuirk, Thomas Burnett, Katherine Blizzard

8. Performing Organization Report No.

9. Performing Organization Name and Address

Cambridge Systematics, Inc.
4800 Hampden Ln Suite 800
Bethesda, MD 20814

with

CASE Consultants International
Asheville, NC 28805

Noel Perry
Transport Fundamentals, LLC
Lebanon, PA 17042

10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS)

11. Contract or Grant No.

DTFH61-12-D-00048 T-13005

12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address

U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
Office of Operations
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590

13. Type of Report and Period Covered

September 2014-February 2016

14. Sponsoring Agency Code

HOP

15. Supplementary Notes

Government Task Manager: Jimmy Chu

16. Abstract

This project follows up on a study completed for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in 2012 that provided a national estimate of weather-related delay affecting the trucking industry. The initial estimate indicated that weather-related delay costs the industry $8 billion to $9 billion annually. The goal of this study is to conduct a more detailed assessment of the impacts of adverse weather on freight movement in 13 diverse geographic regions, including both urban and rural corridors. The analysis presented in this report indicates that, overall, weather events have a significant negative impact on traffic speeds—and, therefore, the freight industry—when analyzed at the regional level. In this report's study area, which focuses solely on a limited set of major highways, decreased traffic speeds due to weather events are estimated to cost the freight industry $3.8 million per year. The study found that ice, snow, fog, heavy rain, wind, and extreme temperature events were the most correlated with reduced traffic speeds, with the largest decreases occurring during the first hour of storms. Adverse weather was shown to have a greater correlation with decreased traffic speeds during peak hours.

17. Key Words

Freight Economics, Trucking, Weather, Travel Delays

18. Distribution Statement

No restrictions

19. Security Classif. (of this report)

Unclassified

20. Security Classif. (of this page)

Unclassified

21. No. of Pages

72

22. Price

N/A