I-10 bridge collapse delays truckers
A July 20 aerial photo shows damage to an Interstate 10 bridge near Hell, Calif., that collapsed during a major storm.
Summer road trippers aren’t the only ones feeling frustrated by the hours-long detours around the Interstate 10 bridge collapse near Hell, Calif.
Truck companies with loads headed east from Los Angeles are facing delays in delivery times because of the rerouting, which can add four to five hours of additional travel time.
A shipment that would usually take a day or less may now arrive in two days, leading to lost productivity for the industry and a lack of predictability in arrival, said R.J. Cervantes, director of legislative affairs for the California Trucking Assn., which has about 1,500 carrier members.
Trucking companies heavily rely on Interstate 10 as the most direct route to move goods to and from the California ports. About 8,000 truck drivers travel the route on a daily basis, Cervantes said.
“It’s a hugely important corridor for commerce,” said Tony Bradley, president and chief executive of the Arizona Trucking Assn., which has more than 300 member companies.
Caltrans is working on a temporary fix to open Interstate 10 to traffic in both directions, aiming to have it completed in the next few days, according to a statement from state Sen. Jeff Stone (R-Temecula). The bridge collapsed Sunday amid flash flooding in the area.
Bradley and Cervantes said they hadn’t heard of any shipments being canceled.
According to federal regulations, truck drivers are allowed to drive only a certain number of hours per day, so detours hinder a driver’s ability to get to a destination on time, Cervantes said.
Delays will show up in shipment costs. Truck drivers are paid by the mile, and when they are rerouted several hundred miles, those costs increase, Bradley said.
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In the short term, it’s unclear what those overall costs will be, he said, and if the detours continue for an extended period of time, it could take a toll on the economy.
“We can make adjustments in the supply line when we know when repairs are going to happen,” he said.
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