Traffic congestion on the National Highway System (NHS) added more than $49.6bn in operational costs to the US trucking industry in 2014, according to a report of the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI).

The report made use of different data sources, as well as a revised methodology that helped in the expansion of its previous cost of congestion research from the Interstate System to the entire NHS network.

The report, titled ‘Cost of Congestion to the Trucking Industry’, found that the delay due to traffic congestion totaled more than 728 million hours of lost productivity, which equates to 264,500 commercial truck drivers sitting idle for a working year.

"Over a dozen states saw increased costs of over $1bn each due to congestion, with Florida and Texas leading with over $4bn each."

ATRI’s report also documented the states, metropolitan areas, and counties that were most impacted by these delays and increased costs.

Over a dozen states saw increased costs of over $1bn each due to congestion, with Florida and Texas leading with over $4bn each.

Traffic congestion was found to be the most severe in urban areas as expected, with 88% of the congestion costs focusing on only 18% of the network mileage, and 95% of the total congestion cost occurring in metropolitan areas.

The report also indicated the impact of congestion costs on a per-truck basis, with an average increased cost of $26,625 for trucks travelling 150,000 miles annually.

ATRI has also created a congestion cost database to offer granular cost information to transportation planning officials on the hours of delay and associated cost by major jurisdiction type and road level.

Old Dominion Freight Line CEO David Congdon said: "Unfortunately we’ve come to expect traffic congestion as a part of our daily lives but ATRI’s latest analysis illustrates what a significant productivity drain that congestion is on our industry and the economy at large."