May 17, 2021
With the I-40 Hernando de Soto Bridge connecting Arkansas and Tennessee over the Mississippi River expected to be closed for the foreseeable future, the Arkansas Trucking Association estimates the closure will cost the trucking industry $2.4 million each day.
ArDOT said that approximately 12,500 trucks traveled over the I-40 bridge each day and an additional 14,000 trucks cross the I-55 bridge daily. Based on operational cost data from the American Transportation Research Institute, which indicates the average cost of operating a truck to be $1.20 per minute, the cost to those 26,500 trucks impacted by the closure adds up to $2.4 million per day.
A major freight lane between West Memphis, Arkansas, and Memphis, Tennessee, the bridge has been closed since May 11 after inspectors noticed a crack and called 911 to immediately get traffic off the 3.3 mile-long structure.
Mississippi River Reopens, Freeing Over 1,000 Stuck Barges
A boat hauling barges down the Mississippi River moves toward the Interstate 40 bridge May 14. (Adrian Sainz/Associated Press)
The U.S. Coast Guard has reopened the Mississippi River to maritime traffic, ending a shutdown that stranded more than 1,000 barges on the key conduit for agriculture exports.
The river reopened as of 9 a.m. CDT on May 14, according to the Coast Guard, providing relief to the queue of 62 vessels and 1,058 barges stranded on the north and south sides of the Interstate 40 Hernando DeSoto Bridge near Memphis, Tenn. The waterway had been closed since May 11 after a crack was found in the truss of the bridge.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. River traffic has reopened on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tennessee, three days after it was closed when a crack was discovered in the Interstate 40 bridge that connects Tennessee and Arkansas, the U.S. Coast Guard said Friday.
River traffic has reopened on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tennessee, three days after it was closed when a crack was discovered in the Interstate 40 bridge that connects Tennessee and Arkansas, the U.S. Coast Guard said Friday.
Can taxing trucks on miles traveled work?
AskWaves looks at possible federal vehicle-miles-traveled tax and the outlook for rolling it out VMT fee on trucks faces strong industry pushback. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)
A user fee to raise money for roads and bridges that is based on the number of miles a truck travels is popular among policymakers but does not sit well with industry lobbyists.
Working the details
Unlike taxes on gasoline or diesel, a fee based on vehicle miles traveled (VMT) “gets much closer to capturing the externalities and to approximating the road maintenance cost of each driver,” according to the Tax Foundation, an independent tax organization that has opposed increasing traditional taxes, such as fuel taxes.