traffic

Post-Pandemic Roadways Seeing More Traffic Once Again–What Does That Mean for Safety?

June 17, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

LOS ANGELES, CA – MARCH 22: Rush hour traffic fills the 101 freeway on March 22, 2006 in Los Angeles, California. According to a recent report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Los Angeles ranks only behind New York with the dirtiest and most hazardous air to breathe. Although Angelinos breathe cleaner air than they did in the 1970’s, they face a cancer risk that is about twice the national average. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

At the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, we reported on data showing that although stay-at-home orders had cleared up a majority of traffic congestion throughout the nation’s roadways, overall levels of road safety had remained incredibly low.

“Unfortunately, the pandemic has exposed our road safety culture for what it is,” explained National Safety Council President and CEO, Lorraine Martin, at the time. “We did not reap the safety benefits we should have experienced.”

Martin noted that the clearer roadways motivated many drivers to drive much more carelessly than usual, and drivers are often tempted to reach dangerous speeds when roads are empty–they often may also fail to use a seat belt due to a false sense of security.

“It’s clear that our open roads have created somewhat of an open season for reckless driving,” Martin added.

Now, it seems that even those who did drive safely–or stayed home completely–during the pandemic have had trouble adjusting to roadways getting crowded once again as more drivers return to work, according to industry experts.

“What we’re observing is that as the rest of us get back on those roads, we’ve forgotten how to share the road,” said Geotab’s executive vice president of sales and marketing, Colin Sutherland. ”We see cars pulling in directly in front of heavy-duty trucks on the highway, forgetting that heavy-duty trucks need more room for braking than the car does.”

In an effort to boost overall roadway safety, Geotab–a vehicle tracking service–collaborated in a campaign with Together for Safer Roads during the United Nations’ recent Global Road Safety Week. During the campaign, the two organizations called on commercial fleets to help bring an end to speed-related road accidents.

As we approach the Summer months, Sutherland warns that these days are the most important to stay particularly safe and aware while driving, as the number of road trips rises and more people than usual hit the road.

“That’s being borne out [of] the increase in accidents that are happening on the road today,” he explained. “An increase over pre-COVID, which is very scary.”

In 2020, America’s roadways saw more vehicle crash deaths than they have in the past 13 years–42,060 people are believed to have died in fatal crashes–8% more than in 2019, even though fewer people were driving throughout the year. All motor vehicle total miles driven even fell by 13% in 2020 from 2019.

The Safety Management Council of American Trucking Associations is currently studying the traffic changes and their effects from the COVID-19 pandemic while we wait for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to release its official 2020 truck and bus accident report.

“We are starting a benchmarking group and will hopefully have this data more readily available,” said ATA’s Safety Management Council executive director, Jacob Pierce. “There are [fewer] cars on the road, so you’d figure that there would be [fewer] accidents. However, [fewer] cars on the road equals probably more passenger vehicles driving [with more risk], driving faster, [and] really not paying attention.”

In regards to the differences that are expected between roadway activity as people return to the roads after lockdown and how drivers behaved on the roads during the pandemic, there is no way to make any real predictions.

“It could go either way,” explained Angela Savino, a business law attorney at Perez Morris. “There certainly was more trucking activity. So, [given] that alone, you might think there was an uptick. But It was a whole different set of circumstances–just the congestion on the road was different”

Many industry experts were genuinely shocked at the data coming from roadway traffic accidents in 2020.

“The last year had a surprising amount of activity–from my perspective–[more] than would have been expected,” said Bluewire’s chief legal officer, Doug Marcello. “Anecdotally, I had more accidents that we were engaged to deal with immediately over the first month of the pandemic than I did most other months, and all of them were situations where four-wheelers had thrown caution to the wind and ended up striking the truck in some way.”

Infrastructure Updates Still Necessary Despite Lessened Road Congestion

May 12, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

“In almost all places, congestion got better,” said Rebecca Brewster, President of the American Transportation Research Institute, regarding the easier travel for truck shipments with pandemic-induced road clearances. “In terms of just how painful the congestion [was] for the industry, 2020 was a better year in terms of the bottlenecks.”

Still, although traffic did lighten up due to fewer people being on the roads during the nation’s stay-at-home orders, infrastructure issues have continued to be an obstacle for truck drivers. A majority of truck speeds throughout the 100 worst road sections saw an improvement rate of around 34% throughout 2020, up from 2019, according to ATRI’s 2021 Top Truck Bottlenecks list. The worst section in the country, that of interstate-95 and New Jersey State Route 4’s intersection in Fort Lee, New Jersey, did not see any changes.

For the third year in a row, this area continued to be the nation’s most congested highway stretch, but did see a peak traffic speed increase to an average of 31.3 mph, up 39.4% from 2019.

Ranked second (up from eighth place in 2019) was the Cincinnati interchange at interstate-71 and interstate-75, which is located near the Ohio River and feeds into the busy Brent Spence Bridge, connecting Cincinnati with Northern Kentucky. In November 2020, this bridge was closed due damage caused by a truck fire, and will have traffic reduced through November 2021 while repainting and repairs are underway.

Ranking third and fourth are two Atlanta intersections–those of the “Spaghetti Junction” at interstate-285 and interstate-85 North in DeKalb County, which had an average peak speed rise by 53.5% in 2020, up to 34.4 mph, and the location of interstate-20 and interstate-285 West in Fulton County. This region, located on the east side of Atlanta, houses a UPS Inc. distribution center and many other trucking companies, and saw an average speed boost of 12.6%, up to 40.9 mph.

Dropping one spot to fifth place in interstate-45/interstate-69/interstate-59 in Houston, which is currently undergoing a rerouting and reconstruction plan working to widen much of interstate-45. Following one spot behind is interstate-290/interstate/90/interstate-94 in Chicago, also known as the Jane Byrne Interchange, which is also currently undergoing renovations, and saw peak speed boosts of 57.6%, up to 28.8 mph.

Illinois and Texas are both working on many road rebuilding and renovation projects, and a multi-trillion dollar bill may soon come into play to revamp more infrastructure across the country.

“For years, ATA has been sounding the alarm about how the condition of our highways is contributing to congestion, which slows down commerce, contributes to pollution and reduces safety,” said President oF ATA, Chris Spear. “ATRI’s bottleneck report highlights where our most critical issues are, and should be a guide for policymakers at the state and federal [levels].”

Also making the list (and jumping from 32nd to 7th place) was interstate-75 and interstate-24’s intersection in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which is under a major construction project that the state’s DOT hopes to have finished by summer 2021. Following behind was St. Louis’ interstate-64 and interstate-55 stretch along the Mississippi River, which has also been seeing many construction delays; the interchange in Rye, New York at interstate-95 and interstate-284, which is also currently in the middle of a major rebuilding project; and San Bernardino, California’s interstate-10 and interstate-15 intersection near Ontario International Airport. This area experienced major freight volume boosts due to the exponential increase in e-commerce during 2020.

ATRI hopes infrastructure upgrades will help the congestion declines we saw throughout 2020 continue on, according to ATRI’s Brewster. “These are a lot of the same locations, year after year, even with car drivers staying home,” he noted.

These challenges that have remained even while fewer drivers are on the roads shows the dedication of the nation’s truck drivers, said Hugh Ekberg, CEO of CRST The Transportation Solution.

“While everyone else is sheltered in place in 2020, trucks keep rolling, delivering essential goods to communities,” he said in ATRI’s news release.

Trucking Concerns Integrated Into Congestion Pricing Pilot

May 6, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

With some of the highest traffic congestion numbers in the world, Los Angeles is now working on a congestion pilot program and taking into account the needs of drivers and freight haulers, specifically.

This two-year Traffic Reduction Study is in the works within the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and will be conducted in an effort to better handle heavy traffic through additional and more efficient methods of transportation and congestion pricing updates. LA County Metro currently represents about 9.6 million people within its transportation agency.

This agency will determine the best methods of solving the most pertinent issues travelers throughout the county are currently facing, explained the senior director of the Metro’s Office of Extraordinary Innovation, Tham Nguyen, during a recent virtual panel discussion. According to Nguyen, Metro has been taking into account the comments and concerns from the public, including those from ride-share providers, construction crew workers, and delivery drivers.

“We are starting our analysis to better understand the travel patterns,” Nguyen explained. “We are engaging with folks from the freight and trucking industry. We’ll have more information, but first we’re just trying to understand what [the] truck patterns [are]. Where are people going?”

Other members of Metro discussed their desire to fully understand all benefits and difficulties that come with a congestion pricing pilot, but hope travel reliability will be the biggest gain from such a program. The team will work to hear from as many members of the public as possible to better comprehend these issues and create better overall technical analysis of daily commutes. Some of the biggest issues at hand–environmental concerns, road safety, and travel times, Nguyen said.

“The thing that is critical to remember about a congestion pricing scheme is that the benefits go not just to people who are switching to new transit alternatives, but also to people who continue to drive,” noted the chief innovation officer for the Office of Extraordinary Innovation, Joshua Schank. “When you’re driving on the routes that are now priced, you don’t sit in traffic, so you’re moving much faster. [For] folks from outside the area who continue to drive through the area, it’s not like they’re just getting charged and then continuing to have the same miserable experience they have now. They’re paying for real value.”

In 2020, the American Transportation Research Institute listed Los Angeles three times on its top truck bottlenecks report–areas listed were the intersections of interstates 110 and 105 (ranking 65th), the intersection of interstates 710 and 105 (ranking 10th) and the intersection of state routes 60 and 57 (ranking 9th). The city continues to hold the reputation of having some of America’s worst traffic congestion.

During the virtual discussion, four different concept consideration areas being currently studied by Metro were presented. These include the freeways crossing the Santa Monica Mountains between interstate 5 and interstate 504 in central Los Angeles, the area between U.S. Route 101 and interstate 5, the areas bound by interstate 10 and interstate 110, the stretch of U.S. Route 101 in downtown Los Angeles, and the stretch of interstate 10 west of downtown, which would have its own corridor pricing model.

Congestion is expected to increase as the city’s population grows, even though the coronavirus pandemic has indeed decreased overall traffic for the time being, explained Phillip Washington, CEO of Metro.

“If we do not do anything, what we’re looking at is total gridlock,” Washington explained. “We have a dream of this metamorphosis from a car capital of the world to a center for greater mobility, innovation, and equity. We’re moving forward. We’re leaning forward in the foxhole.”

Metro dedicated the month of February to putting a major focus onto holding virtual community discussions in an effort to share the commentary it has received in relation to these efforts. It is also prioritizing efforts to hear from community members about their ideas regarding how best to use this input to make this study as efficient, actionable, and helpful as possible.

Metro’s project team has presented the four concept areas discussed in this virtual event to Metro’s board of directors, and will also present its ideas and recommendations regarding preferred concepts for this study–chosen from the four concept areas already outlined–to the Metro board this summer.

Traffic May Have Lessened With the Pandemic, But Insurance Rates Continue to Rise

January 18, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

At the top of the pandemic and the beginning of its effects in the United States, overall numbers of miles traveled dropped significantly. The trucking industry experienced a similarly dramatic drop, meaning, at least during that time, that more trucks gathered dust and fewer needed insurance.

As highway traffic congestion declined, truckers that were not furloughed could reach their destinations much more quickly, and, with lower crash risks, trucking companies struggling against consistently-growing insurance costs saw a brief period of relief.

Still, though, trucking insurance professionals knew that the reality of fewer accident risks and lower insurance rates would not last long.

“We saw…a definite decrease in April and May in reportable frequency of accidents due to [less] traffic on the road and not nearly as much congestion,” said Lockton Cos. senior vice president and transportation team leader, Matt Payne. “But that has normalized into the fall.”

However, hot spots with higher rates of traffic accidents have seen lower congestion levels, making deliveries easier for fleets.

“In densely-populated urban areas…you could make an argument that COVID-19 has created a better delivery environment because it’s easier to get in and out [of those areas],” said Scopelitis president and managing partner, Greg Feary. “Everything from serious accidents [to] fender benders has been reduced.”

Still, Feary agrees that that the insurance market will not have any lasting changes as a result of the pandemic, and in regards to non-COVID-related issues, insurance prices have still continued to rise.

“It’s kind of a blip in time,” said Feary in relation to truck fleet risk exposure in the era of COVID-19. In commercial trucking, carriers have not provided rebates, as has been the case for other kinds of carriers.

“We did see fewer cars on the roadways, which was helpful to truck drivers, who had to deal with less traffic and congestion–and fewer accidents,” agreed CFI president Greg Orr in regards to his carrier’s experience during the pandemic.

This ease in congestion and crashes was short-lived, as insurance rates can be driven up by other more permanent factors. One growing trend is that of “nuclear verdicts,” which bring awards of at least $10 million in truck crash-related cases.

To support claims of poor company practices, dangerous driver behavior, or institutional negligence that could cause serious and fatal accidents, attorneys dive deep into company history, practices, documentation, and operation–often finding more than enough evidence to secure a high payout.

It has also been a difficult time for insurance companies themselves, with fewer providers now wanting to create trucking company policies–leading to higher premiums by those who do provide these plans.

“The trucking insurance market has not seen a profit in quite some time,” according to Hudson Insurance Group senior vice president and head of commercial auto, Chris Homewood. Even though insurance prices are climbing, the industry has still been paying out between $1.03 and $1.12 for each dollar of revenue over the last decade, Homewood estimates.

“We will continue to see less [insurance] capacity, less coverage available,” Homewood explained, while what is currently available will continue to cost more as total claim severity and costs rise. “It is more challenging for [trucking companies] to build out their liability limits…where they would want to purchase $100 million in limits, they can only get [quotes on] $40 million. So, capacity is declining.”

In an attempt to curb insurance premium increases, many fleets have been implementing more advanced safety technology to help drivers avoid accidents–such as in-cab camera systems, which comes with driver training and behavior management tools and other supporting software that can keep a trucker safe.

Cameras, in particular, can help carriers “educate [their] drivers to change habits,” and address any dangerous behaviors ahead of time, Homewood explained.

Additionally, some of these systems can also provide recorded video evidence of an event that can prove a driver’s innocence in an accident liability case–another method of reducing claims expenses for trucking companies and their insurance carriers.

Fortunately, underwriters will develop the best and cheapest policies possible for “those motor carriers who demonstrate a strong culture of safety and accountability, particularly those who have skin in the game with self-insurance retention,” Homewood noted.

Haul Lengths and Congestion Have Dropped Significantly, According to New ATRI Survey

July 23, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

As the coronavirus pandemic continues on, it is also completely reshaping the transportation industry. Short-hauls are becoming the norm as freight demand becomes less long-haul-oriented.

The American Transportation Research Institute and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association Foundation have collaborated on a survey regarding COVID-19’s impact on the trucking business.

The “Trucking Industry Perspectives: how is the Coronavirus Pandemic Impacting the Industry?” survey received more than 5,000 responses within two weeks.

“The trucking industry has weathered national disasters in the past and is doing so again through the current COVID crisis,” said Rebecca Brewester, ATRI President, when the findings were released last month.

According to the survey, trip lengths have significantly diminished, and respondents also said their number of local trips under 100 miles had risen from 7.8 percent of their total trips pre-pandemic to 18.2 percent during the months of March and April–more than doubling.. Additionally, the number of long-haul trips of over 1,000 miles tropped to 22.7 percent after shelter-in-place was implemented–a decline of 10 percent.

“While the underlying cause cannot be clearly discerned from the survey data, anecdotal evidence is that longhaul movements of international containers decreased at the same time that fleet operations recalibrated to moving essential consumer goods from local and regional warehouses to retail establishments,” the survey explained.

Fleet size also plays a large part in pandemic-related trip length changes, according to the survey.

“While the pandemic decreased trip lengths overall, the impact was most pronounced among smaller fleets. For fleets of fewer than give trucks, 40 percent of respondents reported decreased average trip length,” with almost a quarter of truckers indicating that their average trip lengths had become “much lower.”

97 percent of respondents said they had noticed shorter delays related to traffic congestion. 77 percent of respondents were truckers, and most of them were between the ages of 45 and 64 and had at least 11 years of experience. 13 percent of respondents were identified as personnel and fleet executives specializing in operations or safety. The rest were other industry workers, such as retired drivers, sales managers, and instructors. Responses were collected from across the entire nation and from fleets of all sectors and sizes.

40 percent of respondents operating 5-axle refrigerated trailers said they had experienced a freight volume increase in regards to consumer goods. 5-axle flatbeds, however, saw an opposite effect, saying their freight volumes had become “much lower.” Additionally, with fewer passenger vehicles on the roadways, the amount of petroleum being hauled has also dropped significantly.

“This research puts solid numbers to what we otherwise only suspected,” said OOIDA Foundation research analyst, Andrew King. “While we may be turning the corner on the COVID pandemic, we’re not out of the economic woods yet.”

Nearly half of survey respondents also reported lower overall freight levels, with another 28 percent saying levels have stayed consistent. The remaining 22 percent reported operations being higher than they were before the pandemic, which are likely due to those transporting medical supplies and essential goods.

In terms of consumer demand, 45 percent reported higher numbers during the pandemic, and the 31 percent reporting much lower demand were straight truck operators.

“It’s sort of a leading indicator that what’s going on at home and in the few stores that are open is sort of replicated in the trucking industry,” said Dan Murray, ATRI Senior Vice President. “The one sort of shocker for us was, we were under the impression that all the online shopping that was going on while people were at home would drive straight truck deliveries way up, and yet we saw a decrease in straight truck deliveries.”

Straight truck fleet survey respondents are the providers of services to shut-down businesses during the pandemic, and many straight truck fleets working mostly within the e-commerce sector did not respond to the survey, Murray explained.

In regards to parking and detention time, 44 percent of survey respondents said finding parking for trucks during the pandemic had become harder. 42 percent said parking was the same as it had been, which meant it was still difficult, but not worse than usual. For driver retention, over half of respondents said loading and unloading times had stayed about the same, while 34 percent said the times had increased. Looking to upcoming months, 45 percent of respondents indicated that they think freight volumes will become worse throughout the rest of the pandemic, and 41 percent expect freight volumes to stay as they have been.

“It looks like, essentially, no one is unscathed in the industry at some level in the supply chain by what COVID is doing to folks,” said Murray. “You’re getting hit somewhere along the way by something.”

Chicago Traffic Safety: New Attempts to Change Bus and Bike Lane Violations

March 30, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

In the early months of 2020, Mayor Lori Lightfoot took another step in her administration’s attempt to curb what many Chicagoan’s have come to expect when entering downtown; traffic congestion. Just like any other densely populated city in the world, Chicago has long dealt with the ramifications of traffic congestion. Recently, we discussed the public outcry arising from what is known as “Blocking the Box” in high traffic areas throughout the city; blocking intersections in attempts to turn left on yellow and red traffic lights. While that global issue is certainly in need of a comprehensive approach that looks to a multitude of factors, the reality is that Chicago has a variety of other pressing issues that continue to plague downtown traffic.

In light of these concerns being in the press recently, many expected for an announcement to soon come on how the City would handle such issues. With the news of Lightfoot’s announcement, many should be looking forward to what appears to be a strong plan to curb another critical area that Chicago has been dealing with; bike and bus lane violations. As part of the announcement, Lightfoot proposed a new city ordinance that allows for ticketing agents of the city to take photos of cars or other vehicles that are illegally parked in bike and bus lanes. This approach is in response to what has long been a loophole for violators who simply drive off before ever receiving an actual ticket. At the City Council news conference, Lightfoot stated “there have been instances where people are about to get a ticket and they drive off, so all this does is essentially allow the ticket the ability to take a photograph and use that as evidence is support of a ticket.”

The logistics of the new ordinance are simple. Ticketing agents for the city would be allowed to take pictures of vehicles that are in violation by being parked in bike and bus lanes. The agent would then mail the violation and the photograph of the vehicle to the license holder of the vehicle within 30 days and no longer than 90 days after the Secretary of State’s office establishes who the owner of the vehicle is. If the vehicle happens to be leased, then this deadline would increase to 210 days. As for the cost of violating the ordinance, violators can expect a fine of $60-$150, which is the same amount as the previous law; however, the sole goal with this new ordinance is to ensure that drivers cannot get away with the violation by driving away prior to receiving the ticket.

Chicago’s Recent Uptick in Traffic Congestion Crackdown

For our team, this city ordinance appears to be a long time coming; however, the reality is that while Chicago’s traffic congestion struggles are bad, many individuals are likely going to be wondering just how far the city will go to attempt to resolve issues such as bus and bike lane violations. Lightfoot’s announcement comes on the heels of her administration’s implementation of the Ride-Share Tax that went into effect in the beginning of January. We have written countless times on the reasoning behind such laws and once again we remain optimistic, that these approaches by the City are calculated decisions to benefit the safety of its residents. Based on Chicago Comptroller, Reshma Soni’s interview with The Chicago Sun Times, this once again appears to be the administration’s motivation, and for good reason. “There’s so much of this in the central business district area. We’re trying to do whatever we can to curb congestion. And it’s a safety issue as well. People are opening doors in bike lanes. Also, in bus lanes. Accidents are happening. We’re trying to rectify that,” stated Soni. However, Soni’s statements will likely be met with some criticism as the administration has also had a track record of minimizing fines and violations for non-moving vehicles in an attempt to “create a level playing field, so people in heavy debt can have a clean slate and hopefully stay in compliance.” This understanding and philosophy is in response to the administration’s hardline stance on minimizing scofflaws by what the Chicago Sun Times stated was “expanding payment plans and stopping drivers’ license suspensions for non-moving violations.” So, the question then must be asked, if Lightfoot’s administration is determined to stand for alleviating the burden that non-moving traffic violations have on those in debt, is the new city ordinance the exception or the rule?

In light of the new policies the City is establishing, the clear hope is that resident safety will be put in a far better situation. It cannot go unsaid that having vehicles in bus and bike lanes is a serious issue with serious consequences. Although Lightfoot and her administration have made it well known that they are looking to lessen the burden that such scofflaws have on residents, we should be clear in stating that when it comes to the road, your safety is what is most important. Let’s hope the City maintains that reasoning for good and continues to work to make the streets safer and less congested.