Truck drivers waited 6% longer on average in 2022 while moving through the nation's most congested sections of highway at rush hour, according to data compiled by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), a not-for-profit affiliate of the American Trucking Associations.
Average peak-hour speeds were clocked at 36.3 mph at the top 100 freight bottlenecks, compared with 38.6 mph the year before — a meaningful drop in productivity for every carrier running those lanes.
Why bottlenecks are a cash-flow problem, not just an irritation
- Sitting in traffic burns hours of service you cannot bill
- Late arrivals create detention disputes and hurt your on-time metrics with brokers
- Fuel burn per loaded mile climbs while revenue per mile stays flat
- Tight appointment windows force drivers into peak congestion to avoid rescheduling
The practical response is operational: build congestion buffers into appointment planning, document detention carefully with timestamped arrival and departure records, and price lanes that consistently burn extra hours accordingly. Because QP factors invoices and handles collections, we can also see which brokers actually pay detention — and which ones never do.
About the author
QP Trucking Solutions (QP Capital LLC) is a family-owned factoring company, licensed trucking insurance agency and FMCSA compliance partner in Louisville, Kentucky. The team has helped more than a thousand carriers get funded, insured and compliant.