The overall condition of our nation's infrastructure is a key consideration for the transportation sector and naturally for everyone involved in providing hot shot trucking services. Safe, reliable and properly maintained highways and roads play a vital part in the on-time delivery of urgent freight and all goods and materials throughout the United States.
The source of appropriate funding for our national highways and local routes will always be open to debate but what is undeniable is that suitable funding must be found to provide the requisite maintenance for the arteries of transport nationwide.
Providing adequate maintenance for the safety and condition of bridges is not only very important but also can lead the way when it comes to highway expenditure which helps to explain the data below. As you'll see, in 'worst to best' order each state has a large number of bridges that are deemed to be either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. The deteriorating state of our bridge has been driven by deferring costs over a period of decades with a high number of bridges in the deficient category being, at least, fifty years old.
The situation isn't limited to the states that experience more extreme winter weather but instead presents a nationwide challenge as the data reveals. In total, more than 600,000 bridged are assessed with an alarming 23.2 per cent categorized as deficient. While conducting repairs and new builds have a hefty high price tag associated, the delays, costs and risks via the current emergency reactions seen from numerous bridge issues in 2015 ultimately impacts the economy and trucking in particular.
(all data provided by the U.S. Dept. of Transportation)
