Identifying and Characterizing Truck Bottlenecks in the U.S. Mississippi Valley Region

Abstract

Freight movements throughout the Mississippi Valley region of the United States are complicated by the presence of recurring bottlenecks along the highway network. To help the states in the region take appropriate action to address freight bottlenecks, a methodology was developed to identify, characterize, and prioritize the regional freight bottlenecks characterized by significant delays for trucks on a per mile basis. The proposed methodology uses data from the Highway Performance Monitoring System. A prioritized list of regional freight bottlenecks is generated for the Mississippi Valley region to stimulate dialogue among freight planners and operators and to provide a basis to devise optimal alleviation plans for the greatest benefits for the region. The analysis results are verified through a series of qualitative comparisons against bottlenecks identified by state transportation engineers and planners, freight carriers, and previous studies. The general agreement between the findings and these other sources of bottleneck information suggests that the proposed methodology can identify the most prevalent truck bottlenecks while revealing additional locations that warrant further investigation.