Truck Traffic during COVID-19 Restrictions

Abstract

The global COVID-19 pandemic had an unprecedented impact on transportation worldwide. Significant decreases in transportation across all modes were evident and sustained as governments worldwide implemented various countrywide closures and quarantine restrictions to slow the spread of the virus. This paper quantifies and assesses daily vehicle counts by Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) vehicle classifications during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York and Florida throughout 2020. The study found that during March and April of 2020, traffic among all investigated FHWA categories was significantly reduced in both Florida and New York. However, commodity carriers in both states were able to recover faster and remained more consistent than passenger vehicles. This pattern was also observed in both urban and rural communities in Florida. The findings of this work demonstrate how commodity carrier movements, assessed through FHWA vehicle category counts, were less impacted by the governmental restrictions during the pandemic than passenger transportation. While overall traffic volume dropped by more than half in most places at the height of the pandemic, larger commodity-carrying vehicles remained nearly unchanged from the prior year by June of 2020. This was likely because of the critical need to maintain trucking movements to sustain populations. Understanding how truck traffic and freight movements more broadly were impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic is critical in preserving the continuity of service and preventing supply shortages in the event of future outbreaks.