More trucks are using I-5 since Terminal 6 lost much of its business.
BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
More trucks are using I-5 since Terminal 6 lost much of its business.
But can Hanjin and Hapang Lloyd’s departure be blamed for the slow-moving commute in Portland?
Oregonian traffic reporter, Joseph Rose, tried to answer that question in a recent column.
He cited numbers from the port that suggest 2,000 trucks have been added to the road since Hanjin stopped its service to Terminal 6. Rail companies have “very little capacity” and are unable to pick up the slack, forcing more loaded trucks onto the road, Rose writes.
On average, more than 130,000 vehicles a day cross the Interstate Bridge. So a boost of 2,000 trucks a day may seem like just a little hiccup. But consider this: Fully loaded 18-wheelers are lane hogs, stretching up to 80 feet — or the equivalent about six compact SUVs. Also, they usually take longer to get going after stopping in creeping congestion. You can see why, suddenly, it might feel like there are 12,000 more vehicles on I-5.
The port is a little more conservative, using a 3-cars-for-every-freight-truck formula. Either way, “there are absolutely more freight traffic” on the highways, [Susie Lahsene, the port’s senior manager of planning and policy, said]. “I’ve experienced it myself.”
(SOURCE: OregonLive.com)
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