Trucking industry hit with $70M in costs over I-40 bridge collapse, state group says

Since the Hernando de Soto Bridge on Interstate 40 connecting Arkansas and Tennessee at West Memphis closed on May 11, the trucking industry has absorbed more than $70 million in unanticipated costs, according to the Arkansas Trucking Association.

However, the latest data on traffic congestion suggests that the average cost to the trucking industry has reduced from an estimated $2.4 million to $936,000 a day, the organization revealed Wednesday.

“We commend the Arkansas and Tennessee Departments of Transportation for acting in response to the concerns of the trucking industry and implementing measures to improve traffic flow on this major east-west shipping corridor,” said Arkansas Trucking Association President Shannon Newton in a statement. “When the bridge first closed, delays were regularly exceeding an hour. Now thanks to ARDOT’s traffic engineering, implementing strategic lane shifts, that delay is down [from 84 minutes] to only 15 minutes.”

Operational cost data provided by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) indicates the average cost of operating a truck to be $71.78 an hour or $1.20 a minute, the ATA said.

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