The American Transportation Research Institute and the Federal Highway Administration have developed a way to measure truck congestion as a step toward improving freight distribution.

In a report released yesterday called 2009 Bottleneck Analysis of 100 Freight Significant Highway Locations, ATRI and FHWA provide an assessment that gives transportation planners real truck operations data to help with their decisions, said Keith Bucklew, director of freight mobility at the Indiana Department of Transportation.

The research uses global position systems and truck-specific data to create a congestion severity ranking for each of the 100 locations, ATRI said in its announcement.

At the top of the congestion list is the Chicago intersection at I-290 and I-190/I-94. Chicago comes in second, as well, at the intersection of I-90 and I-94 North. Fort Lee, N.J., at I-95 and S.R. 4, comes in third.

"The continued monitoring of freight-significant highways by ATRI and FHWA provides both the private and public sectors with the ability to identify and address deficiencies in the freight system," said Chad England, president of C.R. England North America, in a statement.

"As this research moves forward, the myriad system performance measures that FPM generates will allow decision makers to prioritize highway investment in a way that targets critical needs. Additionally, the private sector can use this research to identify opportunities for routing through congested areas."

How it works

The new Freight Performance Measures web-based tool, FPMweb, measures operating speeds for trucks at any given place and point in time along 25 interstate highways that are considered significant freight routes.

"It's all about using innovative technology to save time and money and to boost commerce and the economy," said Victor Mendez, FHWA administrator. "Timely and accurate information on freight movement will benefit both government and the private sector in making transportation decisions."

FPMweb captures information on truck travel speeds through on board GPS and satellite technology. Low speeds reflect congestion levels at a particular location and time of day.

For the complete study, go to www.atri-online.org.